Condos Now Account For More Than Half Of All Property Sales In Montreal
According to QFREB’s latest report, the proportion of condominium sales relative to other property sales has dramatically increased in Montreal. Whereas condos only represent 24% of sales in the Quebec province, that number jumps up to well over 50% on the Island of Montreal. Given the rising prices of single family homes and the increasing condo inventory, these changes represent a shift in demand rather than a fleeting phenomenon.
Why are condos so popular among Montreal buyers?
Some factors that contribute to the spike in condo sales include:
- An aging baby boomer population, who prefer downsizing into new, well-serviced buildings.
- The rapid increase in supply in the condominium market has kept condo prices relatively low, while single family homes and townhouses have slipped out of financial reach for many young buyers.
What about the Greater Montreal Area?
QFREB noted a large discrepancies between the census metropolitan areas in Montreal. Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, for example, recorded a very high proportion of single-family home sales and a very low proportion of condo sales. In Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the single-family home market makes up 78% of all residential sales.
The Montreal CMA has the smallest gap in market share between single-family homes and condominiums, at only 30%.
At the end of Q1, condo sales on Montreal Island represented 56% of all residential sales, while the market share of single-family homes experienced a significant drop.
Even within the Montreal Island market, there are large discrepancies based on borough statistics. For example, the Montreal North area recorded the smallest proportion of condo sales at 18%. At the top end, 90% of sales in the Ville-Marie borough were condominiums.
L’Île-des-Sœurs (Nuns’ Island) area holds second place on the list, while the Plateau-Mont-Royal area comes in third.
