New Looks at Brazilian Luxury Resort; Toronto Condo Sales Boom

New Looks at Pininfarina’s Luxury Resort Community in Brazil

With a groundbreaking slated for late 2021 and construction set to commence in early 2022, Italian design company Pininfarina and Cyrela Brazil Realty have unveiled new looks at the luxury community they’re bringing to Porto Alegre’s affluent Bela Vista neighborhood. Cyrela by Pininfarina Porto Alegre, as the project is officially known, launched presales in August 2021 with 60% of available residences selling in 90 days. 

The building’s undulating facade is designed to emphasize each residence from the exterior while also providing enclosure for the balconies. “The building has been conceived as a vertical stack of private homes, enveloped within a kind of immersive secret urban garden,” said Samuele Sordi, chief architect at Pininfarina of America. “Using an intricate, layered system composed of sky villas, each framed balcony allows residents to enjoy a fully personalized, open-air domestic retreat.” Each four-suite residence comes with four parking spots.

Toronto Condominium Sales Reach Record High in Third Quarter

Condominium sales in the Greater Toronto Area reached an all-time high for the third quarter, with 7,773 new residences trading in the three-month period, BNN Bloomberg reports. Sales were up 22% over the same period last year, with condominium sales in the suburbs accounting for more than half of the transactions, according to data from Urbanation. Sales in the City of Toronto grew by a whopping 40%, nodding to Toronto’s status as the fastest-growing condominium market in North America. In effect, unsold inventory fell and pushed the average price per square foot of unsold new condominiums up by 10% to CA$1,231 (about $991) creating another record high. 

“With inventories declining further in Q3, this momentum is likely to sustain in the coming months, although high prices and greater prospects for interest rate increases may eventually start to weigh on demand,” said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation.

New York’s Flush Coffers May Stave Off Pied-à-Terre Tax

New York’s booming real estate market may mean that a proposed pied-à-terre tax, which could be used to balance the state budget, may be off the table for now. The Fiscal Year 2022 Mid-Year Update from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office found that, through September, the state’s general fund tax receipts were $7 billion higher than estimated, with preliminary results for October showing “no signs that the flow is abating.” The report calls out New York City’s strong real estate market, while attributing the increase in funds to real estate transfer tax.

According to The Real Deal, this all could amount to a “get-out-of-tax-hikes-free card when next year’s budget negotiations come around.” The proposed pied-à-terre tax would target one- to three-family houses with a market value above $5 million and condos and co-ops with assessed values in excess of $300,000.

Brooklyn Point Notches Over $100 Million in Sales in Six Months

Although closings began at Extell’s 720-foot-tall luxe condominium tower Brooklyn Point in mid-2020, the development is still seeing major sales velocity. Brooklyn Point recorded over $100 million in sales during the past six months, with still-available studio to three-bedroom residences priced from $900,000. In addition to a 25-year tax abatement, homeowners have access to 40,000 square feet of amenities, including a gym, spa, squash courts, spin and yoga studios, and a 65-foot indoor saltwater pool, as well as a screening room, demonstration kitchen, and pet spa. The topper: Brooklyn Point is home to the highest infinity pool in the Western Hemisphere.