November Sales: Not to Worry

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Volume tailed off in Westmount real estate sales posted in November, auguring the slowest year locally since 1994, just before the second sovereignty-association referendum in 1995. This year, the low volume is more the result of very high prices which cause a bit of resistance among buyers, but while low volume can cause havoc with statistics, the local market does not appear in any jeopardy.

November saw six sales, ranging all the way from $820,000 to $4,450,000; the former is the third-lowest price reported so far this year and the latter is fifth-highest. One more sale went for $3,800,000 and all the rest were in the $1 to $2 million range. All of the sales were higher than their 2017 valuation, though the lowest price was also the lowest mark-up, at 12.9 percent; the other mark-ups ranged between 30 and 47 percent. One house spent over a year on the market, while all the others sold between 36 and 85 days on the market, and prices were between 88 and 98 percent of the asking price.

Volume has also slowed in the condominium market, with only one transaction posted in November and six others in October, so the fourth quarter (so far) is well below the 15 sales in the third quarter or the 18 sales in the second quarter of this year. In fact, with December still to come the volume so far this year is 52 sales, closing in on the record high 56 sales in 2017 and already ahead of last year’s total volume of 47. The average price of the seven fourth-quarter sales is $719,571 and the average mark-up only 17 percent, well below the 35 percent average reached in the third quarter.

In adjacent-Westmount, agents were almost busier than in Westmount proper, as “vendu” stickers appeared on signs in almost every district, particularly eastern Notre Dame de Grâce which had six sales on Northcliffe, Marlowe and Grey avenues in November; three more were just to the east of the city limits. With one month still to go, it appears volume matches last year in all except the Circle Road/Cedar Crescent areas. It is noteworthy that the average price for one- and two-family dwellings in every district is now over $1 million.

As we head toward year-end, the number of available listings has dropped to 121 from 128 a month before, with most of the drop for houses in the $1 to $2 million range; only two houses now are on the market asking less than $1 million. The number of houses for rent has dropped, as well, down from 29 in mid-November to 21 in mid-December, five of those asking more than $10,000 a month. The pace of rentals is about the same as last year; the only difference is that this year, five houses have drawn a rent of more than 10,000, while in 2018 there were none all year.

May I take this opportunity to wish all my friends, clients and agents a wonderful holiday season and a healthy and prosperous new year!

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » November 2019