Montreal Property Prices Continue to Grow

Montreal property prices have been rising steadily over the past few years, and the momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing.

According to Royal Lepage’s most recent House Price Survey, Montreal property prices were up 5.9 per cent this autumn compared to last year in Greater Montreal and seven per cent in the city centre.

While that may not sound like much relative to the double-digit increases seen in Vancouver and Toronto in recent years, it’s no small change. The median price of a home in Montreal centre is now $532,026, which is $35,000 more than last year. In the Greater Montreal area, it’s $418,731, or a difference of $23,000.

With punitive tax measures now in place against overseas property investors in both Vancouver and Toronto, attention has swung towards Montreal over the last couple of years, leading to a surge in Montreal property prices.

Buyers who are shopping beyond city limits aren’t just looking at white-picket-fence properties either. Sales of suburban condos are increasing, and prices are following. Laval posted the greatest increase in condo prices in the third quarter of 2019, at 6.8 per cent. Condo prices were also up by about five per cent in Montreal East and the South Shore.

There’s still no major city in Canada with more affordable real estate than Montreal. Yet the steady rise in real estate prices is having a real impact on how much local buyers can afford.

Federal and provincial governments are touting a range of potential solutions to help more Canadians become homeowners, but Dominic St-Pierre, Director and VP Royal LePage Québec, said these well-intentioned initiatives will only fuel even greater increases in Montreal property prices.

A shortage of available properties for sale is also helping to push Montreal property prices up. The number of properties for sale in the Greater Montreal region has been dropping for 48 consecutive months. In September, there were 21 per cent fewer properties for sale compared to last year.

However, despite the gains in prices in recent years, the aggregate price of a home in Canada is still 50 per cent higher than in Montreal, according to the national price summary. Overseas property investors may want to get in while that is still the case.