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Montreal-area real estate prices to jump by Christmas: Royal LePage

La Presse Canadienne Stéphane Rolland Published Oct 12, 2023

“The demand for property at the moment is incredible.”

The broker expects prices to jump by eight per cent during the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the year-earlier period.  While high interest rates may be causing certain buyers to delay their purchases, demand remains strong, said Royal LePage Quebec vice-president Dominic St-Pierre.“The demand for property at the moment is incredible,” he said. “We’re talking about a lack of inventory on a recurring basis. There are a lot of new arrivals, the population of Quebec is growing and we need to house those people. There simply aren’t enough properties available in the rental or resale markets.” The desire for property and the accompanying increase in prices is particularly sharp in the category of starter homes.  “If a property is well listed at the starter level, it will probably get multiple offers,” St-Pierre said. “People are looking for places to live, so these properties are very much in demand.”

In Montreal, residential housing construction hit a historic low this year, according to figures posted last week by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Starts dropped by 58 per cent during the first six months of the year, with only 5,927 dwellings under construction. Royal LePage is forecasting that housing prices across the country will increase by an average of seven per cent by the end of 2023. St-Pierre says it’s too early to forecast what will happen in 2024, although he thinks there won’t be a drop in mortgage rates next year. “It doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the moment.”

St-Pierre did venture to say that in his “very preliminary opinion,” housing prices will not increase significantly in 2024. However, he added that “we don’t think they will drop, either. We think prices will remain relatively stable.”