June Sales: Slowing Down

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Westmount’s real estate market appears to be slowing down for the summer, though prices are regaining their upward momentum after some spring hesitation.

Only six home sales were posted as having been negotiated in June, with prices ranging from $1,160,000 to $4,325,000. A month-end check showed four more sales to add to the May list and two more, including one $8 million sale, to add to the April list. The June sales show an average mark-up over valuation of 47.5 percent, by far the highest mark-up since the 2020 valuation roll came into effect. This has succeeded in pushing price levels out of the state of confusion they were in for the first few months of 2021, though because the volume was so small (the average for June is 13.6) we are not totally confident that the trend will continue.

Perhaps more important, the six sales averaged 19 days to sell, the lowest monthly average we have recorded since we started keeping records in 1998. To say it is a hot market would be an understatement: buyers are eager to work out of their houses so don’t want to sell; those that have to sell are facing a long line of people who want to work from home but still be close to the downtown office.

On the other hand, the number of listings is on its way up, with 85 houses now on the market compared to 74 in mid-June, the bulk of the new listings asking between $1 and $2 million. It will be interesting to see how quickly those can be sold, on the lower end of Westmount’s price range.

The “average” Westmount condominium with a municipal valuation of $1,025,035 would have sold in the second quarter of 2021 for just over $1,250,000, according to our figures. That level has not changed significantly since the beginning of 2020. Our tally counts 13 condominium sales in the second quarter of 2021, down from 15 sales in the first quarter, with an average mark-up over valuation of 22.4 percent and a price range from $460,600 to $1,900,000.

Two commercial outlets, one on Greene Ave. and one on Sherbrooke St., were reported to have sold in June, both for prices under $2 million.

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » June 2021