(Montreal) Residential property sales hit a new March low last month, but some signs suggest the declines are easing, the Association professionnelle des courtiers immobiliers du Québec (APCIQ) said Thursday.
A total of 3,947 homes changed hands last month, down 28% from March 2022, the association said.
It was the first time since September 2022 that sales fell by less than 30% on an annual basis, underlined the APCIQ.
Average prices fell as sales fell. That of single-family homes fell by 5% to $535,000 and that of condominiums fell by the same proportion to stand at $381,500.
New listings for the month slipped 8% to 6,487.
The APCIQ’s director of market analysis felt that these figures show that Montreal is reacting positively to the stabilization of interest rates, after their rapid rise.
“Although economic uncertainties are far from over, households, like investors, are increasingly confident and inclined to carry out their acquisition project in a context of stabilization of financing conditions,” said Charles Brant, in a statement.
“Even though sales are still down, the slowing down is a positive sign that the market is stabilizing. »
Sharp drop on the island
The slowdown in sales affected almost all sectors of the census metropolitan area of Montreal last month, but the sharpest drop was the 36% drop recorded by the island of Montreal, compared to last year. Sales fell by 28% on the North Shore, 22% on the South Shore, 20% in Vaudreuil-Soulanges and 17% in Laval. However, they rose by 3% in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
As for the different types of properties, sales of small income properties, i.e. plexes with two to five units, fell by 42% in March, while transactions for condominiums fell by 33% and those for houses single-family homes lost 21%.
The slowdown in activity was also reflected in longer average selling times. For plexes, this delay was 76 days last month, while it had been 52 days in March 2022. The average delay for sales of condominiums fell from 37 days to 58 days, while that for single-family went from 27 to 53 days.