Two-storey homes, condos growing more popular in Montreal

The Greater Montreal Area is seeing a growing portion of its home sales activity involve two-storey homes and condominium units, attesting to the increasing market influence of larger households, the latest Royal LePage House Price Survey revealed.

The study released last week showed that the region’s two-storey residences had a 6.4% year-over-year increase in value during the first quarter of the year to reach an average of $514,412, despite being the asset class with the scarcest supply in Montreal.

Condo units continued their steady appreciation, with prices growing by 5.2% to reach $328,488. Montreal Centre, in particular, is likely to see its median condo prices exceed the $400,000 level soon, with its $396,942 median condo value as of the latest reading.

The overall average residential price in Montreal Centre exhibited an 8.1% annual increase to reach $406,332 during Q1 2019, considerably outstripping growth in the Greater Toronto Area (3.4% to end up at $836,425) and Greater Vancouver (-1.5% to reach $1,239,306).

“Greater Montreal kept up its momentum with the eleventh consecutive year-over-year price increase, rising above four per cent in the first quarter of the year,” Royal LePage for the Quebec Region president and director Dominic St. Pierre said.

“Unlike many other Canadian markets, which saw a slowdown in activity and prices, the Greater Montreal Area market remained tireless this quarter, despite the harsh winter weather. In the fourth quarter of 2018, we believed that price and sales growth would decline by the start of 2019, but the area once again defied the odds. As a result, 2019 began with a very successful quarter, gradually shrinking the gap between the Montreal and Toronto markets.”

A major contributing factor to Montreal’s dynamism is its strong economic performance, readily apparent in low residual unemployment rates of 5.3% in the province as a whole and 7.3% in the city.

“The city’s economic health is creating increased demand among young buyers competing in the condominium market, continually driving market trends,” St. Pierre explained.

“The city’s core is also attracting more foreign buyers as highlighted in the provincial budget, but these remain a small proportion of the overall transactions.”