Rents that climb
Rental prices, June 2021, greater Montreal area
Average price / increase in one year
3 1/2
$ 1092 / + 2%
5 1/2
$ 1,716 / + 15%
All sizes combined $ 1,302 / + 8%
Source: Regroupement of housing committees and tenants associations of Quebec (RCLALQ)
Ever more expensive properties
Prices of properties sold, September 2021, greater Montreal area
Median price / increase in one year
Single-family homes
$ 504,500 / + 17%
Condominiums
$ 365,000 / + 15%
Plex
$ 690,000 / + 13%
Source: Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec (APCIQ)
4.2%
Increase in the average rent in Greater Montreal in 2020. This is the largest annual increase since 2003.
Source: Observatory of Greater Montreal
0.8%
Increase recommended in 2021 by the Administrative Court of Housing for unheated housing, located in a building that has not undergone major renovations.
Source: Administrative Court of Housing
2.7%
This was the housing vacancy rate in the greater Montreal area in 2020, while the break-even rate is 3%. However, the vacancy rate is lower in the affordable housing category.
Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
30.8%
Proportion of Montreal tenants who spend more than 30% of their income on housing; 14.2% spend 50% or more on it.
Source: City of Montreal
Wages too low for housing
For many workers in key sectors of the metropolitan economy, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find accommodation in the rental market without having to devote more than 30% of their income to it. […] For a worker in the health services and social assistance sector, for example, the average salary offered for the many vacant positions does not allow, with a full-time job, to spend less than 30% on housing with a gross rent greater than $ 1139 per month.
Observatoire du Grand Montréal, rental market indicators, May 2021
For social housing
If the parties really want to respond to the housing crisis, that does not mean developing so-called “affordable housing”. Social housing, in the form of low-rental housing, co-ops or non-profit housing organizations, is the only housing that is affordable over the long term. It is not subject to the laws of the market […] and guarantees security of tenure.
Catherine Lussier, community organizer at the Popular Action Front in Urban Reorganization (FRAPRU)
Too few HLM
Number of households on the waiting list for housing in a HLM: 23,360
Number of housing units in HLMs in Montreal: 20,810
Source: Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal
No crisis, according to homeowners
The market is very tight in several regions, but not in Montreal. Last April, the vacancy rate was under 1% in all regions except two: Quebec (1.3%) and the Island of Montreal (4.7%), according to our surveys. Rents have increased, but remain affordable. In 2010, the rent for a 4 ½ on the Island of Montreal was 14% cheaper than the average rent in Canada. It is now 22% cheaper. […] Left activists and elected officials want to control rent prices, but are not interested in the costs to landlords. There is an explosion in the costs of labor, materials, insurance premiums, building management costs.
Corporation of Real Estate Owners of Quebec (CORPIQ)
A lease register …
The three main parties in the municipal elections in Montreal are proposing to set up a lease registry. This tool would make it possible to control and stabilize the price of rents, they argue. However, Ensemble Montréal provides for a voluntary register. And Projet Montréal proposes that this measure only apply to buildings with eight or more dwellings.
… and other solutions
Montreal project
The party of outgoing mayor, Valérie Plante, promises to build 60,000 affordable housing units over the next few years. To achieve this, the City will use municipal land or buy private land, to the tune of 800 million over 40 years, and then lend them in the very long term to NPOs and developers who will be responsible for creating affordable housing projects. Projet Montréal plans to add 2,000 social housing units per year over the next four years. Funding for social housing depends on the Government of Quebec.
Together Montreal
The party of former mayor Denis Coderre is committed to building 50,000 housing units over the next four years, including 10,000 social housing units. The larger the offer, the more prices will fall, according to Mr. Coderre, who is also counting on the creation of a “Montreal impact investment fund for social and community housing”. This fund, which should be 25 million in the first year and 100 million in the fourth, will receive contributions from institutional investors and capital from the City of Montreal.
Montreal Movement
The party led by Balarama Holness presents several proposals related to housing on its platform, published on its website: increase in the budget devoted to social housing, creation of 30,000 new affordable rental housing near the main transport axes, in particular for vulnerable people, provincial and federal tax credit for contractors who work with the City to build affordable rental housing, and several other suggestions.