Montreal had weakest January home sales in four years: Quebec real estate association

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This article was published 04/02/2022 (1644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Home sales in Greater Montreal sank in January to a level the market hasn’t seen since 2018 as listings dropped and prices soared.

The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says sales last month totalled 2,836, down 27 per cent from 3,905 last January.

New listings fell by a mere one per cent to 4,899 last month from 4,928 in the prior January.

Active listings saw an even larger decrease, dropping 15 per cent to 9,242 last month from 10,872 during the same time last year.

However, prices were up with single-family homes rising 25 per cent to $541,000 and condominiums hitting $381,000, a 19 per cent increase from last year.

Prices for plexes reached a new price record for January as they climbed nine per cent to $712,500.

The association calls the prices and market conditions extreme and says they are handing an advantage to sellers.

“The combination of the return of tighter health restrictions due to the Omicron wave, the expected upward movement in interest rates which are already seen in five-year fixed mortgage rates, and the arrival of new opportunities at the start of the year has once again made the acquisition of a new property a priority for experienced buyers and investors,” says Charles Brant, the association’s director of market analysis, in a release.

“This renewed interest is particularly evident in the Island of Montreal’s peripheral areas. With rising sales in higher price segments while down in others, we are noticing a further acceleration in prices, particularly on the North Shore, the South Shore, Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2022.