The Greater Toronto Area’s luxury housing market is turning to minimalism and wellness amenities, moving away from glitz and sheer square footage, observes Sergio and Matthew Galli, the father and son duo behind Toronto-based design-build firm Belairbuild.

Today, the trend is increasingly oriented toward “having useful square footage than just more of it,” Matthew Galli, Belairbuild’s project director, said in an interview with RENX Homes. The emphasis on utility extends to the choice of materials, technologies and design.

Natural materials and architecture that convey tranquility are in, as are spas and saunas. Granite, highly visible technologies and flashiness are out.

“It used to be the bigger the better, but now I find it’s shifting on that front,” Sergio Galli, Belairbuild’s founder and managing director, said in the interview.

It is a trend even affecting Belairbuild. Its projects as of late have been on the smaller end, with fewer of the 10,000-square-foot builds of yore, Sergio Galli said. Such a movement is taking place as economic turbulence has rocked the general housing market, seeping into even the relatively insulated luxury segment.

More renovations, smaller projects

While there were signs the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) luxury housing market stayed steady in 2025 due to the wealth of its buyers and immigration, it may have hit a point where even it cannot ignore the uncertainty in the economy.

Sales of luxury single-family and attached homes in Toronto declined year-over-year in July, data from Collingwood, Ont.-based KW Collaborative Real Estate shows. For single-family homes, there were 86 sales in July, an 11 per cent decline from 2025. For attached homes, sales fell 10 per cent from 147 to 132 in the same period.

While Sergio Galli has not seen prices in the luxury market taking much of a hit, he has noticed the volume of work has been slowing down and Belairbuild's projects being less ambitious in size. Another indicator of an impacted market is the increasing number of renovations the firm has been tasked with doing.

Less is more today in luxury housing

A recent project of Belairbuild’s that embodies the latest trends in luxury homebuilding is a 4,500-square-foot home in downtown Toronto with a detached two-car garage, which Matthew Galli said is rare for the area.

Its second floor has three spare bedrooms, while the third floor contains the owner’s suite with walk-in closet. Also on the third floor is a balcony with a cold and hot tub. On the rooftop is an entertaining space which includes a kitchenette and living room area.

The home includes an elevator which goes down to the basement, where a spa, cold tub, sauna, theatre room and a bathroom with a steam shower and can be found.

Features like the cold tub and steam shower are indicative of a focus on wellness that Sergio Galli has identified. Luxury homeowners are increasingly looking to improve their quality of life and health, while turning their gaze away from ostentatious excess.

Restraint, longevity and low maintenance are preferred today, Sergio Galli said. Home technology that is easy to use is highly desirable, he continued, with less interest in having a giant control panel.

There is an increasing emphasis on warm wood, warm colours and softer lighting, combined with clean lines and minimalism to calm the mind, Matthew Galli said. The turn to less square footage complements this aesthetic, Matthew Galli said, as more space translates into more emptiness, which creates a colder atmosphere.

From rock star to star architect

Sharp-eyed fans of 1980s New Wave may recognize Sergio Galli as the founding member and guitarist of the band Platinum Blonde. Known for tracks like Crying Over You, Doesn’t Really Matter and Not in Love, the group’s members sported long, mane-like mops that were, as the name suggests, a shocking platinum blonde.

Around the time the fashion style and genre of the band fell out of taste, Platinum Blonde broke up in 1989. “At that point I decided to raise a family and focus on an additional vocation,” Sergio Galli said.

In the aftermath of the band’s demise, he founded Belairbuild as a design firm, applying his architectural knowledge to draw up luxury dwellings in the GTA. 

Initially focused on design, Sergio Galli said he received so many questions from his clients during the construction, he figured, “I may as well be the builder, since I know about the house more than anyone.”

Belairbuild’s projects include a home in King City boasting a stone exterior with a turret to resemble a castle, and a hillside retreat in Caledon. It works on two to three projects per year, mostly single-family dwellings.

While Sergio Galli is likelier to be found poring over a set of blueprints than being on tour today, he has not entirely given up the rock star life. Platinum Blonde reformed as a trio in 2020, with Sergio Galli on his instrument of choice.

Matthew Galli, his son, joined Belairbuild after studying at George Brown College for its construction engineering technician program and years of working on custom homes.

While the housing downturn has hit even high-end housing, Sergio Galli is confident it is a phase in an industry that is cyclical.

“I find cycles are cycles. Eventually things will straighten out,” he said.