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The high-end market in Ottawa is also growing because it’s evolving, he says. Immigration is fuelling a greater demographic mix, we’re becoming more sophisticated and metropolitan, the city is growing, the economy is strong and interest rates remain low.

“The market has got a lot more momentum and a lot more depth than a lot of people think it does,” says Mizrahi, a Toronto-based developer who is currently building Canada’s tallest building, the ultra-luxurious The One mixed-use highrise tower at Yonge and Bloor streets in Toronto.

You can add to that an influx of buyers from Toronto seeking greater affordability, some foreign investment and the fact that our high-tech industry is gaining ground again, adds Eisert.

We’ve also seen something of a reset in the condo market in general, which has helped. The condo boom and bust of the past seven or eight years has settled, with the glut of inventory finally being absorbed, says Eisert.

Changing demographics

So, why higher end? Again, for several reasons.

The demographic is changing, say both Eisert and Derek Nzeribe of the real estate firm Milborne Group. On the one hand, there are the Shopifys of the world – young professionals who can afford it and who have “a different lifestyle than the traditional government employee with 2.3 kids,” says Eisert.

And despite suggestions to the contrary, many downsizers are interested in switching to a condo, but they want to do so on their terms, says Nzeribe, who represents 1451 Wellington and the upscale ArtHaus downtown.

“We had that condo boom a few years ago and the misread from a lot of developers was the type of units that these individuals downsizing would want,” he says. “It’s not necessarily the 500-square-foot investor-type unit; they might be looking for a larger two-bedroom or even a two-bedroom-plus-den.” And when they didn’t find it, they stayed on the sidelines.

“They’re not in a rush,” he says, “so a lot of them just stayed waiting for the right product to come out.” And now that some of the new projects are more in line with what downsizers want, we’re starting to see them come out. That helps explain the popularity of 1451 Wellington. Despite the typically longer sales cycle required in the luxury market, about 40 per cent of the units have already sold, which has exceeded Mizrahi’s expectations.