Montreal home sales hit level not seen since 2014: Quebec housing association

A woman walks by a house for sale in Montreal, Friday, March 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says October home sales in Montreal dropped to a level not seen since 2014.

Sales for the month totalled 1,501, a 35 per cent decrease from a year prior, but in the single-family home category alone fell to a level not seen since 2000.

The association's director of its market analysis department attributed the drop in sales to the increase in interest rates and inflation, which have both weighed on purchasing power.

Charles Brant says the market is seeing a cautious attitude from people and investors who would make purchases but are instead waiting for the market to stabilize and conditions to be more favourable.

His association says the median price of a single-family home reached $510,000, a one per cent drop from a year earlier, while the median price of a condo hit $380,000 and was relatively unchanged from last year.

The median price in the duplex and triplex market was $700,000, which amounts to a $10,000 decline from October 2021 or a 1.4 per cent decrease.

Last month's new listings totalled 5,440, a two per cent increase from October 2021.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2022.