Latest figures point to some significant shifts in the suburbs
With accelerating growth now apparent even outside Canada’s urban hotspots, soaring prices have weakened sales in Montreal suburbs, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers.
In its latest report, the QPAREB said that more than half of all sales transactions in Montreal last month were closed above asking price. Median sales prices were at $508,000 for single-family homes (up by 29% annually), at $365,000 for condos (up by 20%), and at $703,000 for plexes (up by 16%).
The market saw a total of 4,619 home sales in June, declining by 7% on a year over year basis.
“Residential sales in the Montreal area fell significantly in June, mainly due to a historic shortage of single-family homes available for sale and a sharp increase in prices that also extended to the condominium segment,” said Charles Brant, director of market analysis at QPAREB.
However, Brant stressed that any analysis of these figures should “take into account the potential impact on sales caused by the easing of some of the effects of the health crisis and the introduction of a new federal measure aimed at calming the real estate market by limiting buyers’ borrowing capacity somewhat. This measure came into effect on June 01.”
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Sales on the Island of Montreal went up by 11% annually due to strong condo segment performance, while sales in all of the peripheral areas have noticeably dropped because of weaker single-family market activity.
The largest sales declines were seen in the North Shore (down by 20% year over year), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (down by 25%), and Vaudreuil-Soulanges (down by 28%).
Single-family home sales across the whole of Montreal shrank by 18% annually (down to 2,300 transactions), but condos had a 3% increase (up to 1,764 transactions) during the same period. Plexes had a more pronounced 28% growth (up to 552 transactions).
