September/October Sales: Playing Catch-Up

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Real estate agents are trying to catch their collective breath as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, but are having difficulty while the market roars ahead.

Having reported last month that 12 one- and two-family dwellings graced the September sales list in Westmount, we add another eight late-reported sales (along with one more for July and one more for August), coupled with a paltry seven sales in October. The 20-house tally in September makes it a record high for the month, beating out 19 sales in September 2003 and 18 in the same month last year. And if no more sales notices are posted (late) for October, it will have a record low volume for Octobers going back to 1986.

The late postings for September included one $7,000,000 mansion — by far the highest price so far this year — and one row-house which sold for $1,002,000, which made it the lowest price of the month. One other of the late-posted September sales went for $1,505,000, almost double its $763,600 municipal valuation, the highest mark-up of the month. The biggest mark-down remains 24.8 percent, for a house which sold for $2,875,000.

Then in October the adjusted average price moved up even further with sales ranging from $1,300,000 to $3,850,000, with a narrow set of mark-ups except for one, as the $3,850,000 sale price was triple its $1,265,300 valuation (but perhaps including furniture), while the lowest mark-up was 9.4 percent for a house on Côte St. Antoine Rd. The amazing fact among October sales is that all of the houses sold in less than 24 days, including two which went for much more than their asking prices.

The condominium market, too, went through a very busy third quarter — July, August and September — with 15 sales ranging from $525,000 to $2,740,000, then in October only three more sales were posted, all for prices under $1 million. The average mark-up for the third quarter was 19.1 percent, moving up to 22.3 percent in October.

The adjacent-Westmount market in October was fairly slow, too, with three sales in eastern Notre Dame de Grâce, one on Gage Road and one in the “Golden Square Mile,” along with several condominiums and co-ops.

As we move into the holiday season, the number of listings is declining, mainly those in the $1 to $3 million range, which in mid-November had dropped from 63 to 56 houses for sale, with 33 asking more than $3 million both last month and this month. Lowest price for a Westmount house is $1,055,000, and the highest asking price is $17,950,000. Six more houses were rented in Westmount in the past month, and it appears no new ones came on the market during that time. The house rental range is between $3,876 and $19,500 per month, but in fact only one rental has been reported at more than $10,000 per month this year.

Posted by andy October 2020

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