Montreal real-estate market hit hard by pandemic

Like many industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the red-hot Montreal real-estate market has suddenly chilled.

After 61 consecutive months of increases, the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area reported a 68-per-cent decrease in residential sales transactions in April 2020 compared with the year-earlier period, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers.

The most recent residential real-estate market statistics for the Montreal area showed 1,890 residential sales transactions were concluded last month. Those figures are based on the real-estate brokers’ Centris provincial database.

Montreal has been hit harder than other Canadian cities by the pandemic, and the drop in sales was seen in all six main areas of the Montreal CMA.

The drop in sales applied to all three property categories. Single-family home sales fell 68 per cent (1,048 transactions): plex sales dropped 67 per cent (161 transactions); and condominium sales tumbled 69 per cent (675 transactions).

Despite the drop in sales, real-estate prices rose in the CMA. The median price of single-family homes increased by nine per cent to reach $360,000, while the median price of condominiums climbed 12 per cent to $289,900.

Compared with April 2019, the median price of plexes (two to five dwellings) increased 10 per cent to $595,000.

Linda Sestock, a real-estate agent with Royal Lepage Village in the West Island, said there are hopeful signs amid the bleak declines in listings and sales. She said local real-estate prices have remained stable, even strong, in some cases, despite the pandemic.

“There is still a shortage of homes in the West Island and they’re still going at a good price. With the lack of inventory, there is a good chance the prices will be similar to what they were,” Sestock said.

“Up until April 20, some homes were going for above asking price,” she added. “And the prices have been going up, up and up for a long time, so if there is an adjustment we’re still doing well.”

Sestock said industry restrictions caused by the pandemic put a cramp in the real-estate business.

“We were quite hobbled because we could only show things that were listed before April 20. Anything after April 20 we’re not allowed to show, except virtually.

“And if the house was listed before April 20, you could show it if you could prove your clients had to be out of their house by July 31. It was the same for buying; you had to have a letter saying it was essential.”

Like everyone coping with life during the pandemic, Sestock is looking forward to better days.

“I’m hopeful,” she said. “People always need to move and buy, depending on their job situation.”

jmeagher@postmedia.com

Sales transactions April 2019 vs. April 2020