Multiple upward pressures continue to work on the market’s home prices, regional brokers' association says
The Montreal housing market continued to labour under overheated conditions despite a noticeable decline in sales last month, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB).
The city saw a total of 4,320 home sales in October, falling by 24% compared to the record-high performance seen in October 2020.
This reinforced “the downward trend in sales that began in early spring,” the QPAREB said. “Over the first ten months of the year, the number of sales was only 2% higher than the same period last year with 46,448 transactions.”
Sales declines were observed across all residential asset classes. Sales of single-family homes fell by 28% annually to 2,155 transactions while sales of plexes dropped by 20% to 505 deals closed and sales of condos declined by 19% to 1,657 transactions.
However, these downward trends did not prevent active listings from decreasing by 20% year over year, down to 11,195 homes currently for sale in the QPAREB’s Centris system.
“From January to October, the number of properties available for sale in the metropolitan area also fell by 20 per cent, a phenomenon accentuated by low levels of new listings, a situation which has been ongoing for several months,” the QPAREB said.
Read more: Canadian housing sees severe decline in affordability – RBC Economics
“The decline in sales to pre-pandemic levels is still attributable to the large deficit of active listings in the market. Make no mistake, there is still a significant number of buyers in the market and overheating is still a factor,” said Charles Brant, director of market analysis at the QPAREB. “We are seeing renewed upward pressure on prices across all property categories, especially for the North Shore.”
The median price reached $515,000 for single-family homes (up 20% annually), $379,900 for condos (up 18%), and $707,250 for plexes (up 12%).
“The recent announcement by the Bank of Canada of a hike in the key interest rate in spring 2022, sooner than expected, could help maintain some enthusiasm until then,” Brant said.
