Snow storms and ice hockey: Billionaires flock to the world's new luxury homes hotspot

Consumer confidence grew and stock market investments started to pay out again, he said.

But sales growth has now steadied in all cities, apart from Toronto.

“This was Toronto’s second best year on record, but it wasn’t just a function of supply and demand,” said Mr Conn.

“This is one of the most stable financial and governmental systems in the world. It’s the major economic hub in Canada, with a net influx of people and an incredible rate of growth. The perception is it’s a safe place to invest, still relatively cheap, with an attractive rate of return.”

The average global threshold for a luxury listing in the report was $1m (£647,000), although this varied wildly from place to place, with Durban, South Africa, at one end of the spectrum, where a high-end home can be snapped up for $750,000, compared with London, where the definition of lavish is accepted to be around £4m, or Beverly Hill where the elite pay $8m for a luxury pad.

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“You don’t get a closet for $1m in London,” said Mr Conn. “Unlike some of the emerging luxury markets such as Durban or New Orleans in the US.”

There was also a shift from piling into cities in 2013 to buying up resort listing in 2014, the study found, as ultra high net worth individuals started to expand their portfolios.

As a result, destinations such as Costa Rica, Telluride in Colorado and the Big Island in Hawaii, recorded the highest sales growth out of all holiday spots across the world.

“In 2013, the city markets were on fire and the resort markets lagged behind the price rebound,” said Mr Conn. “However, soaring growth last year was found in the resort markets as the notion of the trophy home emerged and ultra high net worth individuals started to treat listing assets as collectables.”

_{A mansion on the market in Sydney with Christie’s real estate.}

_{The manicured lawns out the back of a luxury villa in Beverly Hills.}

_{Trinity Square, the new ultra-lavish redevelopment scheme over Tower Bridge, in London.}