July Sales: Turning the Corner

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Last month we were cautiously optimistic about the market turning the corner following the COVID-19 shutdown, and the addition of five late arrivals to the June list certainly helped in that regard, bringing the total number of June house sales in Westmount to 14 — including two above the $5 million mark — which is the highest monthly volume this year and matches the volume in June last year. So far only seven more sales have been posted as taking place in July, ranging in price from $1,375,000 to $3,175,000, with mark-ups over municipal valuation from nine to 90 percent. Because one of the $5 million-plus sales in June went for only 67 percent of valuation, it brought down the average mark-up for that month to only three percent, but in July the average resurged to almost 28 percent, the highest since the new valuation roll came into force in January.

The most exciting statistic in July is the number of days to sell, at 23 days compared to 129 in June. In fact, three of the June sales had been on the market between 307 and 780 days, while in July, the longest-marketed house was 77 days, and all the rest were 18 days or less. This was proof of the “seller’s market;” all of the July sale prices were at least 90 percent of the asking price, though none sold over asking.

Only three condominiums sold in June, including two apartments and a portion of a made-over duplex, for prices between $680,000 and $2,740,000, the latter for a two-storey penthouse in one of Westmount’s high-rise buildings. It is the third condo sale this year over $2 million.

The adjacent-Westmount market was busy, too, with nine house sales between June and July, plus a townhouse-type condominium on de Breslay Road and two brand new houses, yet to be entered on the city rolls, on Stanley Weir St. The June sales list also includes the first sale we have seen this year in the Shaughnessy Village area, on St. Mathieu St.

The mid-August tally shows 99 houses on the market in Westmount, almost back to the level we reported in mid-June, with the first asking price of less than $1 million since back in March, at $995,000. From there prices go up to $17,950,000, with four (up from three) asking more than $10 million.

So far this year agents have logged 21 house rentals, in fact a lower number than by this time last year, when there were 28, and 27 the year before.

Agents are slowly finding their way through the morass of protocols surrounding the COVID-19 situation, so the prospects are hopeful for a strong fall market.

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » July 2020