According to the real estate agency Royal LePage, the price of properties has fallen by nearly 7% in Montreal since its peak last April. It will continue to fall in the first half of 2023, but by barely 3%, according to its most recent forecasts.
“Most of the price correction is behind us, but we expect prices to continue to decline slightly in the first half of the year, only to experience a modest rebound in the second half once interest rates will have stabilized. We then expect that many buyers who had adopted a wait-and-see attitude will return to the market,” said Dominic St-Pierre, vice-president and general manager, Royal LePage, for the Quebec region, in a press release.
Delivered at 4e quarter of 2023, the aggregate price of properties will reach $532,238, a slight decline of 2% from the current price of $543,100. During the same period, the median price of a detached single-family home is expected to decrease by 2.5% to reach $588,315, while that of a condominium is expected to decrease by 1.5% to reach $421,383.
“Rising borrowing costs, the cost of living and, more recently, municipal taxes, combined with less robust demand should continue to put downward pressure on prices in 2023 in the Greater Montreal area. says Mr. St-Pierre.
Despite the anticipated drop in prices, Royal LePage notes, homebuyers who purchased residential property before the pandemic began still hold a gain nearly 25% higher than three years ago .
The agency expects more activity on the condo side than on the single-family home side. The condo is a more affordable product than a house. Even entry-level homes “remain out of reach for many, especially first-time buyers,” says Royal LePage.
Mr. St-Pierre expects buyers from the rest of Canada to continue to be attracted to the Quebec metropolis as in 2022, with prices being lower than in Toronto and Vancouver.
For their part, foreign buyers are put off by the two-year ban imposed on them by the federal government, which will take effect on 1er January.