November Sales: Prices low, markups high

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Westmount’s fall real estate market had plenty of leaves but only a splash of colour, it would seem, as 14 houses sold for the highest monthly average markup this year, beating the June figure by 0.4 percent and pushing the average price of Westmount homes ever higher.

Two of the sales broke the $2 million barrier but the others are all less than $1.6 million, an indication most buyers still cannot afford the price being asked by about 33 houses on the market now, but achieved by 18 houses this year. The average price of the 14 sales was just under $1,300,000, down from the raw average price of $1,568,571 in 14 sales in October or $1,326,730 in September.

Highest November price was posted at $2,980,000 which makes it the fifth-highest price this year, way above the second-place sale last month, $2,100,000. A house in lower Westmount needing total renovation was sold for $420,000, oinly the third sale this year at less than $500,000, though another November sale was recorded at $605,000. The $420,000 sale was the only one to go for less than municipal evaluation in November, which registered an average 23.8 percent markup. The highest markup, 55 percent, involved a house which had sold back in May for $850,000, was renovated over the summer and resold last month for $1,450,000.

The only condominium sale announced in November involved plans for one of the units at 215 Redfern Avenue, which has not yet been completed as far as we know. None were posted for October, either, thus the condominium statistic for the fourth quarter of this year is currently zero.

Things were not quite so bad in adjacent-Westmount areas, however, where five homes were sold in November for prices ranging from $630,000 to $2,850,000 (one of the newer homes on Jean Girard Street, just east of Westmount).

Only two of the 14 sales in Westmount spent more than 100 days on the market, with the average time on the market plummeting to 43 days from 124 days among the October sales, when eight of the 14 sales exceeded 100 days.

With volume already higher than for all of last year, perhaps this gives us an opportunity to relax and enjoy the holiday season. Best wishes to all, and Happy New year.

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » November 2011