As expected, the overheating of the real estate market will have caused the value of properties in Montreal to explode with an impressive jump of 32.4%, its strongest growth in 15 years.
Martin Jolicoeur, The Journal of Montreal
The former demerged municipalities of Montréal-Est, Senneville and Dollard-Des Ormeaux experienced the most marked increases with stratospheric increases of 52.5%, 45.9% and 45.1% including non-residential.
In Montreal, the boroughs of Lachine and Pierrefonds-Roxboro take the prize with respective increases of 42.6% and 40.8%.
Not since 2007 has the property assessment roll of the Montréal agglomeration – which includes 16 cities and 19 boroughs – experienced such an increase. That year, the role had grown by 38.6%. Three years ago, the value of buildings listed on the roll had increased overall by only 13.7%.
According to the latest property assessment roll, presented on Wednesday, single-family residences have experienced the strongest growth in value, apart from vacant lots and industrial buildings.
Their growth has seen an increase of 38.6%, while condominiums have seen an increase in value of 30.7% on average. For their part, the value of plexes, these small income buildings with two to five units, increased by 35.5%.
- Listen to the interview with Aref Salem, leader of the official opposition of the City of Montreal on QUB radio:
Next tax base
Non-residential buildings posted an average increase of 25.7%. It is in the category of industrial buildings that we find the greatest increase in value, with growth of 60.5%.
Some categories of non-residential buildings, strongly affected by the slowdown caused by COVID-19, posted a lower than average increase in value.
This is the case for shopping centres, office buildings and certain other buildings with a more touristic vocation, such as hotels. For example, shopping centers have seen their value decrease by an average of 2.1% since 2018.
These values would reflect the state of the market as it stood in Montreal on 1er July 2021. They will be used as a property tax base, as of next January 1, for the fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025.
► The Ville-Marie borough, which corresponds to downtown Montreal, experienced growth of only 15.7%, the lowest on the island of Montreal. The latter would be explained mainly by the large concentration of commercial and office buildings on its territory, two categories among the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Nothing to alleviate the housing crisis
It is certain that the new land role of Montreal will aggravate the housing crisis, recognizes all the actors in the area.
Julien McEvoy, The Journal of Montreal
“The value of plexes is increasing faster than the average,” notes the Corporation of Property Owners of Quebec (CORPIQ).
This means that the property tax bill of owners of duplexes, triplexes and quadruplexes in Montreal will jump.
“Property tax increases are 100% passed on to tenants,” said CORPIQ spokesperson Marc-André Plante.
This is also confirmed by the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU).
“It is the tenants who pay the municipal taxes,” insists Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for FRAPRU.
The calculation method for rent increases is what it is, responds CORPIQ, which could not be accused of making the rules.
Several increases
Of course, that doesn’t mean a 32% increase, like that of property values.
But that certainly means that rents in Montreal, where 63% of people are tenants, will jump.
“Rents have already gone up a lot. The tenants are already taken by the throat,” illustrates Véronique Laflamme.
For CORPIQ, the news is timely, in the midst of the election campaign.
“Quebec is being asked to hold a general assembly on the housing issue. There is a crisis and we have to resolve it, ”reacts Marc-André Plante.
In the margin
If the issue is not resolved and the rents only increase, “we will leave people on the sidelines”, he assures us.
FRAPRU agrees.
“We have the impression that we are not talking to tenants in the context of inflation. We are going to send checks, but that does not solve anything, because the rents are increasing, ”pleads Mme The flame.
$200,000 UP
This 54 m condo2 on the ground floor of rue Saint-Joseph Est, on Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, has undergone quite an increase, like most buildings on the island. It remains to be seen how this will translate to the tax bill…
Old assessment $469,800
New assessment $662,400
Buckle up for the property tax hike
Property values on the Island of Montreal have jumped 32.4% in three years. The monetary consequences for the owners will be significant, recognizes the Plante administration.
Julien McEvoy, The Journal of Montreal
“We are not going to increase property taxes by 32%”, immediately launches the person in charge of the file, Dominique Ollivier, president of the executive committee of the City.
She was reacting to the unveiling of the new land role, an exercise that takes place every three years.
Plexes, houses and condos have risen in value in Montreal so much that the challenge now is to know how much the property tax will increase.
“Each time we receive the property roll, we reduce the property tax,” she says.
Yes, but how much?
The reverse would be aberrant. But the real question is how much will increase the tax bill of those whose property value has exploded.
Anyone whose property has appreciated more than the average will be affected. They can consult the state of affairs on the City’s website.
Eighteen out of 19 boroughs are affected and it is in the next budget, unveiled at the end of November, that we will know the increase in the property tax.
“We cannot go higher than 3%,” opposition leader Aref Salem commented on Wednesday.
This made the administration jump. “Our administration will do what is necessary to limit tax increases while respecting the needs and responsibilities of the City,” responds the office of Mayor Valérie Plante.
Ability to pay
Dominique Ollivier also insisted a lot on “the ability to pay of Montrealers”.
It was his line of communication to remind that the owners, thanks to the property tax, already pay more than 60% of the budget of the City.
“It’s not viable to ask owners to pay more than 60% of our budget,” she repeated 10 times rather than once.
Still, when November comes, the increase will be steep. The president of the executive committee, a transparent and honest woman in the opinion of all, did not make herself very reassuring.
“We never said we were going to limit the increase in property taxes to 3%, but I don’t think we’re going to go to 8%, that would be very surprising,” she said.
Montrealers can therefore expect a property tax increase of around 3% to 8% in 2023. Let them take it for granted.