February Sales: Eight of 11 Under Water

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Westmount’s new (2023) valuation roll is not doing any favours to the local real estate market, as eight out of the 11 sales posted for February sold below their municipal assessment, as did two out of five in January. The volume figures are below average, too: the 10-year averages are 9.8 in January and 17.1 in February, thus volume is off some 40 percent.

The top price in February was $4,000,000 for a house on Roslyn which was listed in October asking $5,495,000 and came down to $4,950,000, with the final sale price some 14 percent below its 2023 valuation. Six others sold in the $2 million range and three between $1,550,000 and $1,750,000 for an overall average price of $2,216,273, about the same as the average for January. In fact, as the graph shows, the Westmount market has been wandering aimlessly in terms of prices since last September. Because we are now comparing with the roll posted last year for 2023-25, which is 31 percent higher than the previous (2020) roll, the much lower mark-ups (and mark-downs) are not indicative of a sharp drop in the market.

Three condominium sales in February make up all that we have so far for the first quarter of 2023: a flat in a made-over triplex for $670,000, another in a made-over duplex for $1,100,000; and an apartment in a St. Catherine St. apartment building for $670,000. Since the first quarter average volume is 10.5 condo sales, that means that March is going to have to tally seven condo sales to resemble that average.

So far in adjacent-Westmount there have been six house sales this year — three in January and three in February — including two in eastern Notre Dame de Grâce and one each in southern Côte des Neiges, Shaughnessy Village, the “Golden Square Mile,” and on Trafalgar Rd. just east of Westmount.

The number of listings for house sales in Westmount has now climbed to 92 from 89 in February, and it seems virtually all of the new listings are in the $2 million to $3 million price range. The same two houses — one on Cedar Ave., one on The Boulevard — are each asking $25 million, while a row-house on Burton Ave. is asking only $795,000, the only Westmount house asking less than $1 million. Eight Westmount houses nave been rented so far this year, up from six in the same period last year; 28 are available for rent asking prices ranging from $4,300 to $15,000 per month. The highest rent rate so far this year is $12,000.

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » February 2023