May Sales: Market Slowing Down

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The Westmount real estate market slowed noticeably in May this year, with only nine sales reported, compared to 19 in April and 18 in March. Usually, between February and May the monthly average number of sales in Westmount varies between 17 and 19 sales per month, so it is quite surprising to see the volume fall off between April and May, though the average volume for the first five months was about what it has been (65) over the past 10 years.

Prices appear to be getting weaker, though May did have one sale over $6 million and one more over $4 million, the same number of high-priced sales that we had in April. But while 12 of the 19 sales in April were over $2 million, only five of the nine sales in May surpassed that amount. On the optimistic side, the average days-on-market plummeted to 48 from 92 in April, and the median in May was a mere 22 days to sell.

Three of the nine May sales registered mark-downs from municipal evaluation, the lowest being -22.7 percent, with the highest mark-up at 39 percent and the average of 7.2 percent, down from the 14.1 percent average mark-up in April.

Two May condominium sales added to four others in April to bring the second-quarter 2025 sales list to six, but only one over $1 million and that in 1 Wood Ave. The others ranged down to $350,000 for a tiny bachelor apartment at 399 Clarke Ave. In all, the six sales averaged $805,800 for five apartments and one flat, with an average valuation of $740,867, thus an average mark-up over valuation of 8.8 percent, about the same as for single-family dwellings.

Another nine real estate sales were logged in adjacent-Westmount areas, with five of those in the Côte des Neiges district just north of Westmount, for prices ranging from $900,000 to $1,800,000. With Roslyn Ave. north of Westmount accounting for 10 sales in 2023 and another eight in 2024, it is hardly surprising to see that two of the five sales so far in that district were for houses on Roslyn Ave.

And if the market was not active enough, house listings jumped from 134 in mid-May to 148 in the middle of June, the highest monthly volume since 2016. The extra listings are in every price range, but mostly between $2 million and $3 million (up from 40 to 45 listings) and $5 million to $10 million (19 to 23 listings). Some 19 houses have been rented this year and another 20 are listed for rent, for rental rates from $4,500 to $25,000 per month, but in fact none of those rented so far this year has surpassed the $10,000 rate.

Posted by andy May 2025

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