June Sales: Recovery Almost Complete

Download the Graph
Real estate prices in Westmount have now rebounded to where they were last summer, before Quebec’s future began to be questioned by prospects of an upcoming election and a staggering economy.

Three of eleven sales in June topped the $2 million mark but none was higher than $2,150,000 — somewhat discouraging considering there are currently 65 houses on the market asking more than $2 million. Only one house sold for less than $1 million in June. Somewhat stunning was the fact that the average time on the market jumped to 313 days, meaning five of the eleven houses had been on the market for more than a year and in fact two had been promoted for more than two years each. Two other sales were accomplished in less than a week, and in fact one of those went for more than its asking price.

So far this year 14 houses have sold for more than $2 million, compared with 15 in Westmount in the entire 2013. In 2012 there were 24 sales and 21 in 2011, before the notion that the Parti Québécois could take the reins of power. We might expect that, now that the Liberals have a majority government again, the number of $2 million-plus sales should increase in the second half of 2014.

Three condominium sales were reported in June, including one high-rise penthouse apartment which brought $4,900,000, more than double its evaluation. That one sale puts a skew to the averages for condominiums; in the second quarter of 2014, four other condo sales were reported, two above municipal valuation and two below, so with the exception of the penthouse the averages were about the same as they had been in the first quarter of the year. Again, the average number of days on the market was 326, an indication apprehensive buyers were finally ready to make the plunge and buy properties which had been languishing on the market for — in one case — more than two years.

Five house sales in the Circle Road area and one duplex on Victoria Ave., highlighted the adjacent-Westmount list last month. Houses on Cedar Avenue and St. Sulpice Road completed the single-family list; there were none in eastern Notre Dame de Grâce. While the numbers are much smaller than for Westmount proper, it would appear that prices are up for the year in every sector, anywhere from 1 to 10 percent.

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » June 2014