New data from the Canadian Real Estate Association indicated that Montreal’s housing market is benefiting from strong growth across all crucial metrics – and might even have enough of a boost to outstrip Vancouver’s pace soon.
In January, Montreal’s median home sale price went up by 6.3% annually, reaching $349,300. While the price was still far below Vancouver’s $1.02 million average, the latter’s price levels actually fell by 4.5% during the same period.
Fuelled by a robust economy and immense purchasing power in an environment of relatively low housing prices, the Montreal market’s sales volume also enjoyed a 7.1% increase from December 2018, which was the fastest month-over-month growth in a decade.
In comparison, activity in Canada’s hottest cities during the same time frame was just around 1.2%, while the overall national increase was at 3.6%.
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The total dollar value of property transactions (seasonally adjusted) in Montreal went up by 18% annually, up to $1.63 billion. Meanwhile, Vancouver’s fell by 42%, down to $1.7 billion.
While this might be a warning sign to cautious would-be investors, the overall lower costs of living in the city – especially when compared to Canada’s most inflamed markets – considerably reduce the risk of Montreal suffering from the demand/uncontrolled price growth vicious cycle that is even now evident in Toronto and Vancouver.
“Much of the recent price appreciation and sales increases, that really reflects the strength of the economy,” Bank of Nova Scotia economist Marc Desormeaux told Bloomberg. “Montreal remains relatively affordable.”
Ephraim is currently a journalist at Mortgage Broker News, Real Estate Professional and Canadian Real Estate Wealth.
Ephraim is a highly accomplished news reporter whose work has been published across North America and the Asia Pacific region. Before joining Key Media, Ephraim spent eight years working as a journalist with Reuters TV. His areas of expertise include real estate, mortgage, and finance.
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