The real estate boom of recent years has boosted the value of buildings in the city. The property assessment roll for the agglomeration of Montreal filed Wednesday by the City of Montreal for the next three years shows an average increase of 32.4%. For the residential sector, this increase reached 35.5%.
This is a significant leap from the previous roll for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, when the value of buildings on the territory of the Montréal agglomeration increased by 13.7%. But this type of increase is not unprecedented since in 2007, the values of buildings had climbed by 38.6%.
Residential buildings with five or fewer units experienced the strongest increase in value, with growth of 35.6%, while for buildings with six or more units, the increase was 35.1%. For their part, the value of single-family homes rose by 38.6%, against 30.7% for condominiums. The average value of single-family homes on the island of Montreal reaches $840,000, and that of condos $492,400.
Non-residential buildings, for their part, posted an average increase in value of 25.7%. However, we note a very strong increase for industrial buildings, i.e. 60.5%. On the other hand, several categories of non-residential buildings very affected by the slowdown in their activities due to the pandemic saw a below-average increase.
Among the 15 related cities, it is in the cities of Montreal East (52.5%), Senneville (45.9%) and Dollard-des-Ormeaux (45.1%) where the increases are the most significant. Of the 19 Montreal boroughs, it is in Lachine (42.6%), Pierrefonds-Roxboro (40.8%) and Saint-Laurent (39%) where the increases are the highest. On the other hand, the borough of Ville-Marie stands out with a more modest increase of 15.7%.
Significant tax increases to come?
Revised every three years, the property roll serves as a reference for calculating school and municipal taxes. It is based on real estate market data as of July 1, 2021. By that date, some 33,700 transactions had been recorded on the island of Montreal.
Increases in value do not necessarily lead to an increase in taxes of the same order, since the roll could be spread over three years and the City adjusts its tax rate downwards.
Thus, for the City’s 2022 budget, the Plante-Ollivier administration had limited the average tax increases in the residential sector to 2% for Montreal taxpayers. However, owners whose residence is worth more than the average can expect to have to assume a higher tax increase.
Last January, during a meeting of the Finance Commission, the director of the Property Assessment Service, Bernard Côté, warned Montrealers that they should expect significant increases in the order 30% given the trends observed in the real estate market.
The new assessment roll will come into force on 1er January 2023 and can be viewed online on the City’s website.
The housing stock on the island of Montreal has nearly 503,000 assessment units and their total value reaches $526.3 billion.
Further details will follow.