The Montreal property segment as a market on the rise

Data trends show that the Montreal market might be the next big thing in Canadian housing

The Montreal property segment as a market on the rise
Amid a new period of apparent gradual slowdown in the leading Canadian real estate markets of Toronto and Vancouver, the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards announced that Montreal is well on its way to experiencing its largest home price growth since 2010.

Montreal-area residential property valuations are on track to spike upwards by 6 per cent in 2017, up from a January projection of just 1 per cent growth.

“We aren’t as crazy as Vancouver and Toronto as far as price increases,” Century 21 Vision agency executive Eric Goodman told Bloomberg. “But activity is pretty good.”

The median price for single-family homes in the city is expected to rise to $312,500, still a relative bargain as the figure is approximately one-third the levels in Toronto and Vancouver. Sales volume has also been forecast to increase by 4 per cent year-over-year, up to a seven-year high of 41,500 property transactions.

The Montreal market has fortunately been spared from the non-Canadian-driven overheating that has compelled the Ontario and B.C. governments towards the path of foreign buyers’ taxes. Desjardins Group chief executive officer Guy Cormier argued that Montreal has no need for such a levy as there is “no real-estate bubble forming” in the city at the moment.

Data from CMHC showed that the proportion of foreign home buyers in Montreal stood at 1.3 per cent by the end of 2016, a figure that CMHC officials said might hold for some time.

“We expect the number to remain close to 1.5 per cent in the short term,” CMHC principal of market analysis (Montreal) David L’Heureux said.

The city’s “goldilocks” status might prove irresistible to those fleeing the Toronto and Vancouver markets, however.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Montreal becomes the new target for foreign capital investing in residential real estate,” according to Cynthia Holmes, professor of real estate management at Ryerson University in Toronto.


Related stories:
Real estate driving economic strength in Quebec City and Montreal
Montreal real estate board urges government caution in foreign buyer’s tax issue