As the snow slowly starts to melt and temperatures are finally hovering around more humane averages, many are hoping the Montreal real estate market will begin to wake up from its January slumber. Despite a strong month to end off 2014, the New Year began with somewhat of a thud, as sales slowed five per cent compared to last January according to the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board.
The spring of 2014 was a somewhat tumultuous time for properties in Montreal, as political instability had buyers and sellers at somewhat of a standstill. This year, however, local brokers are hoping that January will be an anomaly, making way for a prosperous year ahead.
“2015 actually started off really well for our agency,” said Brittney Rozenblat, real estate broker with Rozenblat Realty Group. “Initially we thought that having too many houses on the market would negatively impact our sales, but because there is so much variety, we’re noticing that buyers are able to be more picky, and find exactly what they want.”
While this may be the case, Rozenblat also noted that this abundance of choice means buyers have the luxury of time, and are using it to their advantage.
“People are taking longer to choose a home,” she said. “A lot of available properties means more homes to visit, more options to consider, and more discussions to be had.”
Specifically for the condo market, the amount of properties being listed is on the rise. With 7,680 active condos in Montreal, there has been a nine per cent increase in activity since last year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
“This is largely due to the amount of new condo projects being built in the Ville-Marie and Griffintown areas,” Rozenblat said. “The average selling time for condos is now over 118 days according to the CMHC.”
A similar trend is being observed in the market for single family homes in Montreal, she added.
“With an increase of about 10 per cent in active listings, the average time to sell has gone up to 86 days.”
In terms of pricing, many would assume that since properties are spending more time on the market, sellers would be more negotiable. Interestingly, condo prices have actually risen 1.1 per cent and housing prices have increased 3.5 per cent (do you mean since last January?)
“In competitive times like this, when a buyers’ market typically puts stress on sellers to lower their prices, we have been able to still sell homes in Côte Saint–Luc and Hampstead at record prices,” Rozenblat said.
According to the Re/Mac 2015 Housing Market Outlook Report, the average residential sale price in Canada this year is expected to be $416,300, up from $406,145 in 2014.
“I think these facts and stats are a good indicator of how strong our market really is,” she added. “Overall, conditions remain favourable to buyers in all sectors.”
Brokers and buyers alike indeed have reason to be optimistic for the foreseeable future, as anyone in the market for a new property recently got a boost when the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by 0.25 per cent at the end of January.
“People are inclined to borrow money and spend because it’s not really costing them much,” Rozenblat said. “It bodes very well for the rest of the year for real estate in Montreal.”