A real estate boom has begun in Montreal and across Quebec, according to recent numbers as more properties are showing up on the market and previously dormant buyers are taking advantage of lower interest rates.
The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) said that in the final quarter of 2024, sales jumped 41 per cent across the province compared to 2023 numbers and have reached levels similar to pre-pandemic sales in 2018 and 2019. Sales were up 19 per cent for the entire year.
In Montreal, residential sales rose 48 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Market analyst Charles Brant said the jump in sales is primarily due to lower interest rates.
“These buyers, including investors, were particularly active in the early months of the year,” said Brant. “In the fall, first-time homebuyers took advantage of lower interest rates and the greater number of listings on the market to further boost activity.”
Brant added that sales sharply rose at the end of the year.
“This upsurge coincided with an accelerated pace in key interest rate cuts since October, coupled with the coming into force in December of a measure extending the amortization period of insured mortgages to 30 years,” he said.
“As a result, most markets in Quebec saw strong sales growth during this period of the year. Concurrently, market conditions continued to stabilize, yet remaining solidly in favour of sellers and supporting a steady rise in prices, which reached new all-time highs.”
Markets turned around by end of 2024
Alec Raffa, a Royal LePage residential real estate broker, began his career in Montreal during the on-fire pandemic market followed by the slow down when interest rates rose.
“It [the pandemic] was just multiple offers, just craziness, pretty much everywhere in all markets and for all property types,” he said in an interview.
“In the last couple of years, I’d say in 2022, 2023 and 2024, we saw a little bit of a slowdown in the market, primarily because of the increase in the interest rates, and then that all started to turn around at the end of 2024 where the rate started to come down, people’s sentiment about the market started to turn more positive.
I’d say, a big influx of not only first-time homebuyers, but second- time, third-time buyers just coming back, looking to either upgrade in size or downsize in terms of their property.”
- Listen on CJAD 800 Radio: Montreal real estate: Could the city be headed for a boom in 2025?
The real estate association said that in Quebec, plexes (two to five units) saw the highest surge (14 per cent), while condos and single-family homes increased by 19 and 18 per cent, respectively.
The strongest sales gains by metropolitan region were found in Sherbrooke (26 per cent), Drummondville (21 per cent), and Montreal (20 per cent).
Raffa said many buyers were “dormant” first-time buyers who have been shut out of the market for the last couple of years.
“Starting November, December of 2024 and even now into January, they’re coming back,” he said. “They’re coming back alive, if you want to say, because the interest rates are coming down, and they’re seeing this as now an opportunity to get into the market.”
Montreal boom to continue in 2025
Raffa said that the market will remain a sellers’ one and it will be hot in 2025.
“I definitely think we’re going to see another boom,” said Raffa. “I think most of the year is going to be a strong year, and we’re going to far outpace 2024 numbers.”
In Montreal, active listings grew by 12 per cent in 2024, driven by condo (16 per cent increase) and single-family home (10 per cent increase) listings.
The average sale was made in 4.7 months in Montreal, which is lower than the six-month average across the province.
The median prices for property in Montreal were all up:
- Single-family homes: $578,000 (up seven per cent)
- Small income properties: $770,000 (up seven per cent)
- Condominiums: $408,000 (up five per cent)
Is it a sellers’ market?
“It’s still very favourable conditions for sellers,” said Raffa.
“In the last couple of years, you had maybe more of a balanced market. With the rates coming down one would expect it to heavily favour sellers again, but that being said, it always depends on the price category, the type of property. So there’s never an exact answer for that question. But supply is still low and demand is still very high, and with the rates coming down, we’re expecting demand to go up even more.”
Other booming markets
In addition to Montreal and the major centres, certain suburban or rural markets are also booming.
The highest increases in real estate sales in Quebec came from outside of the major city centres in the province in 2024.
The following were the highest increases in the province:
- La Tuque (39 per cent)
- Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (37 per cent)
- Lachute (37 per cent)
- Montmagny (34 per cent)
- Sainte-Marie (28 per cent)
- Saint-Georges (28 per cent)
- Saint-Hyacinthe (25 per cent)
- Charlevoix (25 per cent)
