Sales of homes for more than $1M rise

The number of residential properties sold for more than $1 million in Montreal rose by 24 per cent yearover-year during the first half of 2018, according to a new report released by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

The real-estate firm said there were 460 sales for more than $1 million during the first six months of 2018, compared with 372 during the first half of 2017. Montreal was the only major Canadian city to see gains in the $1-million-plus market during the period, it said. The number of properties sold for between $2 million and $4 million also grew, rising from 51 units in 2017 to 80 in 2018. That report includes single-family houses, condos and attached homes, or townhouses, sold on the resale market.

It’s a sign of the “continuing strengthening of the Montreal market and demand for real estate,” said Brad Henderson, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

The increase in the number of properties selling for more than $1 million is the result of rising prices as well as growing consumer confidence, Henderson said.

The number of condos sold for more than $1 million rose by 25 per cent, from 65 in 2017 to 81 in 2018.

Henderson said builders are paying attention to that and responding with high-end construction downtown, like the Four Seasons Private Residences. There, a condo listed at $8,050,000 was pre-sold during the first half of 2018.

Most properties sold for more than $1 million in Montreal are being purchased by young urban professional couples with two incomes, investors or people looking to downsize from larger properties, Henderson said.

“Somewhat different from Vancouver and Toronto, more of the buyers in the Montreal marketplace are domestic buyers, so there’s a much lower incidence of foreign buyers,” he said.

The report comes the same day as a survey by Royal LePage. It found that the aggregate price of properties in the Montreal region rose 5.9 per cent year-overyear during the second quarter of 2018, to $391,224. Average price of a single-family house in Montreal’s most expensive areas, according to Sotheby ’s International Realty: Westmount: $2,719,650 Outremont: $2,480,417

Town of Mount Royal: $1,607,810 Hampstead: $1,476,404