According to the Québec real estate brokers’ provincial database, sales in the Montréal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) increased by 3 per cent in July 2012 compared to July 2011, with 2,643 transactions, said the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board (GMREB). In terms of sales by property category, single-family homes stood out with a 6 per cent increase in the number of properties sold.
“Sales of single-family homes posted a sixth consecutive monthly increase, outperforming condominiums for five straight months,” said Diane Ménard, Vice-President of the GMREB Board of Directors. “However, these results are a contrast to those that we’ve seen in recent years, as condominium sales outperformed single-family home sales every month between October 2009 and November 2011 inclusively,” she added.
Condominium sales did grow in July 2012 compared to July 2011, but with a more modest increase of 1 per cent, while plex sales fell by 9 per cent.
Among the five main areas of the Montréal CMA, Vaudreuil-Soulanges led the way with a 30 per cent increase in sales in July 2012, compared to July 2011. This was followed by the North Shore with a 16 per cent increase in sales and the South Shore with an 8 per cent increase. Laval took fourth place with a 6 per cent increase in sales, after ranking first last month. Finally, the Island of Montréal registered an 8 per cent decrease in sales compared to July of last year.
As for median prices, that of single-family homes remained stable in the Montréal CMA in July 2012 at $275,000. The median price of single-family homes grew by 3 per cent in both Laval ($280,000) and on the North Shore ($232,000), while it decreased by 2 per cent on the South Shore ($260,000) and in Vaudreuil-Soulanges ($255,000). The Island of Montréal posted the largest increase in median price, at 8 per cent ($385,000).
As at July 31, 2012, the number of active listings on the MLS® system increased by 8 per cent in comparison with the same date last year.