(Montreal) Sales of residential properties in Greater Montreal fell in January to a level the market had not seen since 2018, as the number of homes listed for sale fell and prices climbed in arrow.
Updated yesterday at 1:51 p.m.
A total of 2,836 properties changed hands last month in the Quebec metropolis, the Association professionnelle des courtiers immobiliers du Québec (APCIQ) said on Friday, which represented a drop of 27% compared to the 3,905 transactions in January 2021.
New listings fell just 1% to 4,899 last month from 4,928 a year earlier.
The number of active listings saw an even bigger drop, plunging 15% to 9,242 last month from 10,872 in the same period last year.
However, prices rose, with single-family homes rising 25 per cent to $541,000 while condominium prices reached $381,000, up 19 per cent from a year ago.
Prices for plexes, or buildings with two to five units, hit a new record high in January, rising 9 per cent to $712,500.
The APCIQ described prices and market conditions as “extreme” and stressed that they were still “very much in favor” of sellers.
“The combination of the return of more severe health restrictions with the Omicron wave, the anticipation of the upward movement in interest rates, already observable on five-year fixed mortgage rates, and the arrival of new opportunities at the start of the year puts the acquisition of a new property at the center of priorities for experienced buyers and investors,” said Charles Brant, director of market analysis at the APCIQ, in a press release.
“It is on the outskirts of the island of Montreal that this enthusiasm is particularly felt. With an increase in transactional activity in the highest price segments while it is down in the other ranges, we note a further acceleration in the rise in prices, particularly on the North Shore, the South Shore , Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. »
In Quebec, sales of residential properties were counted at 684 last month, which represented a drop of 16% compared to the record of 817 transactions recorded in January 2021.
The outskirts on the north side of Quebec saw its real estate sales fall by 25% compared to last year, while the decline was 17% in the Quebec City agglomeration and 9% on the South Shore of the capital city.