According to the latest residential real estate market statistics for the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), the month of November saw a total of 4,402 sales posted — a decrease of 17 per cent compared to November 2020.
Despite a relatively strong start to the year, the number of transactions for the first eleven months of 2021 currently stands at 50,826, a slowdown compared to the same period last year.
“In the context of a low supply of properties on the market and persistent high demand, pressure on prices for residential real estate in the Montreal region remains strong. The good news is that in November, new listings showed signs of exceeding pre-pandemic levels when compared to November 2019 or even 2018,” said Charles Brant, director of market analysis. “The announcement of an earlier-than-expected rise in interest rates no doubt motivated potential sellers to advance their project in order to benefit from the sustained activity and the opportunity to sell at the best price. This phenomenon also explains the higher transaction activity than in 2019 during the same period, as buyers also anticipated the same increase in the cost of financing.”
On the Island of Montreal, sales declined less sharply than in the rest of the CMA, reaching a total of 1,673, a decrease of 12 per cent compared to November 2020. The same period last year saw a more moderate level of growth (+21 per cent) on the island compared to the rest of the CMA (+32 per cent). The current level, however, represents a gain compared to November 2019, when the number of sales reached 1,578.
All areas in the CMA’s periphery experienced a decrease in their number of sales compared to November 2020. Again, the lack of single-family homes was the main factor in slowing sales.
Vaudreuil-Soulanges experienced the strongest decline (182 sales; -33 per cent), followed by Laval (419 sales; -22 per cent), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (100 sales; -19 per cent), the North Shore (1,010 sales; -18 per cent), the South Shore (1,018 sales; -17 per cent).
There was a decline in sales for all residential categories compared to November 2020. Single-family homes posted a drop of 23 per cent (2,100 sales), while plexes (528 sales; -11 per cent) and condominiums (1,768 sales; -10 per cent) saw comparable decreases.
Active listings on the Centris system declined during the month of November, after experiencing a slight upturn from July to October, although this decline tends to stabilize with more properties coming to market in November. The number of residential listings in November stood at 10,693, a decrease of 20 per cent compared to November 2020.
Median prices continued their upward trend in November. The median price of a single-family home in the CMA reached $525,000. Condominiums, for their part, saw median prices drop to $374,000. The median price of plexes is now $725,000. Respectively, these prices represented increases of 21 per cent, 18 per cent and 15 per cent compared to last November. Apart from condominiums, which saw a slight decline, these median prices were also up from October 2021.