MONTREAL -- The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal home sales and new listings dropped by about 30 per cent each last month, compared with July 2020.

The association says the month was a continuation of the substantial decreases in sales that began in May and a signal that the market is returning to pre-pandemic levels.

The board says 3,799 homes were sold in the market in July, down from 5,324 in the same month last year.

New listings totalled 4,118 last month, a drop from 5,918 the previous July.

The association says the median price of a single-family home rose by 18 per cent from July 2020 to reach $500,500 last month, while condo prices climbed by 16 per cent to reach a median of $360,000.

Charles Brant, the director of the association's market analysis department, says the figures are a shift from last July when the region saw a "spectacular" level of sales.

-- This report by the Canadian Press was first published on Aug. 4, 2021.