Last year's housing slump in Toronto may not have been enough to lower prices much, but the luxury housing market saw a substantial enough drop in activity to worry realtors used to making generous commissions on the city's most expensive homes.

Engel & Völkers Canada, the firm behind the bougiest of real estate listings in the country, noted last summer that homes over the $4 million mark were selling at a slower pace in the GTA, which the experts blamed largely on the foreign buyer ban Ottawa implemented at the beginning of 2023.

But, it seems the downward trend has righted itself despite the continuation of the two-year ban, with the ultra-rich flocking back to purchase homes in the region by year's end, per the firm's latest numbers.

Oh no. How sad.

— Matt Hogan (@Loud_Mouth_Soup) July 25, 2023

Based on E&V's Year-End Canadian Luxury Real Estate Market Report from this week, sales of Toronto residences over $8 million surged more than 50 per cent by the end of 2023 compared to pre-COVID.

The company notes that while the rest of the market in the city was hampered by factors like "rising interest rates, gas prices, inflation, wars and post-pandemic effects that caused market uncertainty," those with enough money to consider luxury real estate were relatively unfazed by these things.

"Data for premium residential class homes over $1 million in Toronto tells a different story — one of remarkable stability and balance," the report states, noting that though there were 17 per cent fewer home sales over $4 million in 2023 compared to 2022 "the ultra-luxury residential class category outperformed pre-pandemic times."

Over the course of last year, a total of 31 homes worth more than $8 million changed hands in the GTA, which is more than the 15 homes of the same value sold in the region in 2019.

And though there was a year-over-year decline in sales of houses worth between $4 million and $8 million, the average price of these properties actually went up slightly, from $5,598,005 in 2022 to $5,672,525 in 2023.

Sales for condos in this range stayed pretty steady, and prices likewise increased (to $4,915,475, from  $4,472,471 in 2022.)

And even though sales in the $1 million to $3.99 million range — which the average Toronto home falls within — were down by double digits between the two years, prices remained stubbornly steady, dropping only 0.5 per cent, on average.

"The Toronto Uptown Market showed remarkable resilience in 2023, with prices remaining relatively stable throughout the year," E&V writes, changing its tune from last summer.

"We anticipate a surge in housing market activity in 2024, due to compounded demand for housing coupled with a stabilizing interest rate environment, which will likely trend downwards in 2024."

Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to stress about our unaffordable grocery bills.