Montreal selling times hit 15-year low

Montreal's housing market remained favourable to sellers in January, as selling times for single-family homes and condominiums shrank to their shortest since 2005, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB).

The selling times in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) went down to 69 days for single-family homes, 74 days for condominiums, and 73 days for plexes.

"Selling times continue to reflect particularly tight market conditions that are extremely favourable to sellers, for all property categories combined," QPAREB said.

The region witnessed 3,429 residential sales in January, up 16% from last year. Excluding Vaudreuil-Soulanges, where sales fell significantly by 17%, the five other main areas of the Montreal CMA reported robust increases in sales activity. Laval clocked the highest growth at 37%, followed by Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (33%) the Island of Montreal (18%), the North Shore (17%), and the South Shore (10%).

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In terms of property type, plexes recorded the highest jump in transactions, hitting a sales growth of 36% to 335 sales. QPAREB said the low vacancy rates for rental properties in the region were the reason behind the renewed interest in this property category.

Condominium sales also increased considerably during the month, up 23% to 1,290 transactions. Single-family homes, on the other hand, recorded the highest number of transactions in the month at 1,800, reflecting an 8% growth.

The supply of residential properties for sale was not able to keep up with the increasing demand. Over the month, the number of homes up for grabs fell by 28% to 15,073 active listings. This rate of decline has not been seen in the month of January since 2000, according to QPAREB.

As a result of the stellar gains in sales and the limited supply, property prices across the Montreal CMA shot up, with all three property categories hitting new records. The table below shows the changes in prices across property types: