ÎLE-DES-SŒURS, QC, Jan. 15, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - The Greater Montréal Real Estate Board (GMREB) has just released its annual residential real estate market statistics for the Montréal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), based on the real estate brokers' Centris® provincial database. In total, 35,764 residential sales were concluded in 2014, a 2 per cent decrease compared to 2013. This was the fourth consecutive annual decrease in sales.
Click here to see the main residential statistics for the Montréal Metropolitan Area.
Geographically, the decrease in sales in 2014 was felt almost equally in all five of the CMA's main areas: the Island of Montréal, Laval and Vaudreuil-Soulanges all registered a 1 per cent decrease in sales, the North Shore posted a 3 per cent decrease and the South Shore registered a 4 per cent decrease.
For the CMA as a whole, all three property categories – single-family homes, condominiums and plexes – registered a drop in sales in 2014. Condominiums posted the largest decrease, at 3 per cent, followed by plexes at 2 per cent and single-family homes at 1 per cent.
As for prices, the median price of all three property categories rose in 2014. The median price of single-family homes grew by 1 per cent to reach $282,500 across the CMA. Condominiums also registered a 1 per cent increase in median price, as half of all condominiums sold for more than $230,000. Finally, plexes registered a slightly higher increase at 2 per cent, as their median price stood at $435,000.
In terms of supply, the number of properties for sale continued to climb in 2014 in the Greater Montréal area. The number of active listings on the Centris® system rose by 9 per cent, with an average of 33,313 properties displaying a "For Sale" sign.
Throughout 2014, it took 93 and 90 days, respectively, for a single-family home and plex to find a buyer, which represents an additional 8 and 4 days, respectively, compared to last year. For condominiums, the average selling time was extended by two weeks as it took an average of 120 days for a condominium transaction to be concluded.
"Although the overall statistics for 2014 show a slowdown in sales, we noticed that the second half of the year was much more dynamic than the first half, as sales started to pick up in the summer," said Diane Ménard, Vice-President of the GMREB Board of Directors and spokesperson for the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) for the Montréal area.
Fourth Quarter: Best Quarter of 2014
In total, 7,410 residential sales were concluded in the fourth quarter of 2014 in the Montréal CMA. This represents a 2 per cent increase compared to the fourth quarter of last year and the second consecutive quarterly increase in sales. While all three property categories registered an increase in transactions, plexes really stood out with a jump of 10 per cent. Sales of both single-family homes and condominiums increased by 1 per cent.
Slight Decrease in Residential Sales in Québec in 2014
The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) has just released the most recent residential real estate market statistics for the province of Québec, based on the real estate brokers' Centris® provincial database. In total, 70,686 residential sales were concluded in 2014, which represents a slight decrease of 1 per cent compared to 2013. Sales of single-family homes and plexes remained stable with 49,857 and 6,032 transactions, respectively, while sales of condominiums slowed by 2 per cent in 2014, with 14,423 transactions.
Among the province's six Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Trois-Rivières registered, by far, the best results for 2014, with a 21 per cent increase in sales. The 1,119 residential transactions that were concluded represent a new record for this CMA. The only other CMA to register an increase in sales in 2014 was Québec City, at 3 per cent. All of the province's other CMAs registered a decrease in sales, ranging from -1 per cent in Sherbrooke to -6 per cent in Gatineau. As for the agglomerations, Val-d'Or (+42 per cent), Montmagny (+25 per cent), Thetford Mines (+21 per cent) and Rouyn Noranda (+19 per cent) stood out with the largest increases in sales, while Baie Comeau (- 22 per cent) registered the largest decrease.
The supply of properties for sale continued to increase for a fourth consecutive year in Québec. On average, 77,938 residential properties were for sale through a real estate broker in 2014, which represents a 10 per cent increase compared to 2013. "With this increase in the number of properties available, market conditions continued to relax in most areas of Québec, which generally translated into moderate price increases," explained Paul Cardinal, Manager of the QFREB's Market Analysis Department.
Across the province, half of all single-family homes sold for more than $227,000 in 2014, a 1 per cent increase compared to last year. The Sherbrooke (+2 per cent), Trois-Rivières (+2 per cent) and Montréal (+1 per cent) CMAs registered an increase in the median price of single-family homes in 2014. The median price remained stable in the Québec City CMA, but decreased in the Saguenay (-3 per cent) and Gatineau (-1 per cent) CMAs.
"There were two phases to Québec's real estate market in 2014: sales fell significantly in the first two quarters of the year, but the third and fourth quarters saw an increase in sales," said Paul Cardinal. "The rise in sales in the last quarter of the year was the largest increase in the past ten quarters," he added.
About the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board
The Greater Montréal Real Estate Board is a non-profit organization with more than 9,300 members: real estate brokers. Its mission is to actively promote and protect its members' professional and business interests in order for them to successfully meet their business objectives.
About Centris.ca
Centris.ca is Québec's real estate industry website for consumers, grouping all properties for sale by a real estate broker under the same address. Visit Centris.ca to obtain more information and quarterly statistics for the province of Québec, including its regions and municipalities.
About the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards
The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards is a non-profit organization composed of Québec's 12 real estate boards and the more than 13,000 real estate brokers who are their members. Its mission is to promote and protect the interests of Québec's real estate industry so that the boards and their members can successfully meet their business objectives.
For more information about the Centris® statistics for each of the province's regions, don't miss the upcoming publication of the QFREB Barometer.
SOURCE Fédération des chambres immobilières du Québec
Sarah Hamel, Tel.: 514-762-0212, ext. 216, [email protected]
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