With Montreal home sales hitting new lows, number of real estate agents could drop

For the past five years, their numbers have increased throughout Quebec, but the pool of real estate agents in the province is expected to drop as home sales continue to cool since the pandemic.

There are currently about 17,000 real estate brokers in Quebec. It’s been a lean winter and the Montreal housing market has yet to thaw.

In February, the majority of homes were still selling at or slightly above the listing price in Montreal, however, residential sales are down 32 per cent from the same period last year, based on data from the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB). A total of 2,996 homes changed hands in February in the Montreal census metropolitan area, compared to 4,375 in the same month last year, the association said.

As a result, a record number of real estate brokers across Quebec could soon make the difficult decision to leave the profession.

Longtime broker Terry Kilakos says it's sort of a "boom and bust" scenario.

"The way the market was and the way that things were kind of moving, homes weren't staying on the market very long, Everyone was looking for homes, everyone was — there was a lot of activity, so just people decided, 'Hey, you know what, I might as well go and become a real estate broker and see if I can catch some of that wave," Kilakos said.

The OACIQ, the authority that issues licences to real estate brokers in Quebec, said the industry saw a 15 per cent jump since 2018. But in 2023, the housing market in Quebec is not able to support them all.

"They found themselves kind of looking for clients and not really being as active as they should be. A lot of them decided to go and get part-time jobs or full-time jobs and do real estate part-time and now a lot of those agents, because they had gotten those jobs, they're moving out of the industry," Kilakos said.

"The big day is May 1st — that's when we'll know who is going to stay in the industry and who is not."

At the end of April, the province's 17,000 brokers will have to renew their real estate licences. Valid for one year, the fees for the licences range between $1,900 for an established broker and $2,300 for a newcomer.

Kilakos said now that the market is slowing down, "that exasperates the frustration and makes them say, "Hey, you know what? We're going to jump and go do something else."

NUMBER OF HOMES FOR SALE WENT UP

The number of properties listed for sale continued to increase in February, showing a 64 per cent increase compared to last year. A total of 15,893 listings were recorded in Greater Montréal last month, which was slightly higher than the pre-pandemic level of February 2020, the QPAREB said.

Median property prices showed a further decline compared to February 2022, particularly in the small-income property category (plexes and buildings with two to five units), where they fell by eight per cent. 

The median price for a single-family home was $515,000, down six per cent from a year ago. Condos sold at a median price of $380,000, a decrease of four per cent from last February.

Compared to January, however, median prices increased by three per cent for condominiums and single-family homes. This growth reached five per cent for plexes.

In addition, the slowdown in transactional activity in the real estate market is resulting in longer average selling times for all housing categories. It took an average of 82 days to sell a plex last month, 27 days longer than in February of last year.

Single-family homeowners took an average of 58 days to sell their property, up 26 days from a year ago, while condominiums took 19 days longer, to 60 days.

With files from The Canadian Press