Sustained demand continues to eat into available housing stock, raising sale prices
The Montreal housing market continues to post healthy levels of activity with a 7% year-over-year increase in sales in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest release by the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board (GMREB).
Based on the real estate brokers’ Centris® provincial database, a total of 12,311 residential sales transactions occurred in Montreal in Q1 2018. This represented the market’s 15th straight quarterly increase in sales, as well as the best first quarter sales result in 7 years.
In terms of property classes, condominiums showed the greatest increase with a 17% rise in sales, for a total of 4,278 condo deals. Meanwhile, plexes with 2 to 5 dwellings had 5% year-over-year growth (1,019 transactions), while single-family homes posted an even more modest 2% increase in the same time frame (7,005 units sold).
Read more: Montreal to dominate luxury market performance in spring 2018
Reflecting the sustained demand, the number of active listings declined for the 10th straight quarter, with an average of 25,910 properties for sale in Montreal. This was 16% less compared to the first quarter of 2017.
“Because of the sharp drop in supply for all three property categories, coupled with the increase in sales, market conditions are becoming more and more advantageous for sellers,” GMREB board of directors president Mathieu Cousineau said. “The only property category that is still showing balanced market conditions is that of condominiums.”
Across Montreal, single-family homes ($310,000), condominiums ($245,000), and plexes ($490,000) all posted increases in median prices, at 5%, 3%, and 7%, respectively.
