MONTREAL – Just as the election campaign ends and a new government takes the reins of power, new numbers on local real estate sales are coming in.
It seems Montreal’s housing industry is getting an early shot in the arm this spring with sales and prices increasing across the entire island – even in West Island suburbs like Pierrefonds.
“The market on the island is pretty strong right now,” explained Dominic St-Pierre, a realtor at Royal Lepage.
The first quarter of 2014 revealed sales are swinging upward on the island with an increase of 2.5%.
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Not to mention, a typical two-storey home in Montreal had a price increase of 3.6%.
Though it’s considered a strong number, it still lags behind other major Canadian cities.
The average increase nationally was 5.4%.
“Montreal has always been more stable,” said St-Pierre.
This is because the large market cities of Toronto and Vancouver are considered more volatile as they react more abruptly to economic conditions.
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“The ups are higher and downs are higher,” said St-Pierre.
“Especially in Vancouver. Vancouver is like a roller coaster market similar to a big U.S. Market.”
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Montreal is doing well, but it’s a different story off-island.
In Laval, home sales dropped by 12.3% and in Brossard, housing sales slumped by 4.9%.
“Brossard is suffering a little bit from what’s happening with the Champlain bridge,” said St-Pierre.
One area in Montreal that is not doing well is condominium sales.
They’ve slumped badly this year, largely because there are too many on the market.
“There’s a lot of new constructions that are still not sold,” said St-Pierre.
“That creates a downward pressure on the real estate market.”
Nevertheless, St-Pierre expects the market to perform even stronger in the coming months now that the election is behind us and a majority government is in power.
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“The fact that we won’t have another election for four years is the good news,” he said, adding that political stability is crucial for home sales and prices to stay strong in Montreal.
St-Pierre said he just hopes the economy will grow accordingly so that 2014 can be a robust year in the real estate industry.
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