Montreal's housing rebalancing is spreading outward as condo inventory hits historic highs
Montreal's residential real estate market deepened its downturn in August, with 2,853 sales recorded across the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). That's a 13% drop from the same month a year earlier, according to data released Thursday by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, activity fell a further 2% compared with July, extending a contraction that has reshaped Montreal's once-resilient housing market since spring.
The August figures, drawn from QPAREB's Centris provincial database, show the slowdown is no longer confined to any single geography or property type — it has spread across every major area and category of the CMA.
Supply spreads beyond the island
Active listings reached 20,128 units, up 18% from August 2025. New listings totalled 5,874, a 7.4% year-over-year increase.
The inventory build-up, which first concentrated on the Island of Montreal, is now most pronounced in the suburbs: listings on the South Shore rose 28%, while the North Shore recorded a 26% jump.
Across property categories, condominiums led supply growth at 19%, followed by single-family homes at 17% and plexes at 15%.
"With a decline in activity and growing supply across the metropolitan area, August's results confirm that the Montreal residential market continues to rebalance," said Camille Laberge, QPAREB assistant director and senior economist, in Montréal.
"Condominiums on the Island of Montreal remain the segment where the rebalancing process is most advanced."
The downtown core and the Sud-Ouest borough are under particular pressure. Laberge noted that those areas are now recording the highest condominium listing levels ever captured in the Centris system, with prices having stagnated over recent quarters.
Smaller units, she added, are proving the hardest to move as buyers gain options across the market.
Despite the softening in demand, median prices continued to rise across all property categories. Single-family homes climbed 2.8% year-over-year to $650,000, condominiums edged up 3.6% to $437,250, and plexes posted a 1.7% gain to $856,000.
As Montreal housing data has shown throughout 2026, persistent price growth alongside declining sales points to a market in gradual transition rather than outright decline.
Economic uncertainty weighing on buyer decisions
Selling timelines lengthened for most property types. Condominiums averaged 62 days on the market in August — 12 more than a year earlier — while single-family homes sat at 42 days, one day longer than August 2025.
Plexes were the exception, selling in an average of 52 days, four fewer than the prior year.
QPAREB senior economist Hélène Bégin pointed to forces reaching well beyond supply and demand.
"The real estate market has entered a phase in which buyers have regained some negotiating power but also have more reasons to hesitate," Bégin said.
"Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and ongoing concerns about high property prices are contributing to slower decision-making among some households, which are opting for more cautious strategies."
Canada's shifting immigration policy has been identified as a structural drag on housing demand by RBC Economics, with reduced population growth in the Montreal CMA expected to moderate residential activity through the remainder of 2026.
QPAREB had previously projected a 3% annual decline in Montreal CMA sales for 2026, a trajectory August's data shows is tracking closely.
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