November Sales: Real High Prices

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By far the highest price this year for a single-family dwelling was agreed to in early November, as one of the city’s most prestigious bungalows sold for $11,700,000, in a month which featured 10 sales agreements, all but three of them over $2 million. The price appears to be announcing a release for some of Westmount’s highest-priced properties, with other November sales reaching $4.2 million and $3.65 million, while in October only one of 12 sales was over $3 million. The top price this month leaves it in second place in Westmount’s real estate history; 12-14 Sunnyside Ave., including the coach house, sold for $13,500,000 in March, 2017.

Even the lowest price in November came as something of a surprise, as a row-house on Blenheim Place cleared $1.4 million. Two houses sold for less than their 2020 municipal evaluation — one almost 10 percent lower — and the highest mark-up over valuation was 45 percent, with six of the 10 sales scoring more than 20-percent mark-ups.

Because of the high-priced sales, the average price in November was $3,415,050, the first time in Westmount’s history that a monthly average has cleared $3 million. Perhaps more indicative is the median price, $2,340,000, which is way up from a median for October of $1,850,000; in fact, the average mark-up over valuation actually went down between October and November, from 30.7 percent to 19.2 percent, and after adjustments the two months come out fairly even in their indication of the value of a “typical” Westmount house.

One very late October sale of a converted duplex-type condominium was the only addition to the list of condo sales, which have slowed down significantly thanks to the COVID-19 scare. So far in the fourth quarter we have counted only four condo sales in Westmount, though there were 15 in the third quarter of the year, so the market is not completely dead.

Perhaps most important in the condo field, the new apartments at 1111 Atwater Ave., including Westmount’s section of what used to be the Montreal Children’s Hospital, came online in November and very quickly three penthouses were sold up for prices ranging from about $1,250,000 to $4 million. Also sold was a triplex on de Maisonneuve Blvd. for almost double its valuation, and a commercial condo at 4055 St. Catherine St., which sold for 2.6 times its tax value.

Let me take this opportunity to wish all my readers a happy — and above all safe — holiday season and all best wishes that we can defeat the pandemic in 2021 and begin to enjoy each other in person again!

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