January Sales: Catching Our Breath

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January is often considered a “catch your breath“ month and this year is no exception. Only eight sales were posted by agents as having been negotiated in January, the lowest monthly volume since the previous January (when there were only four sales) and the highest price was only $2,435,000 — this after months which reported sales of $3,850,000, $4,500,000 and $7,900,000. And while we were reporting last month that under-$1 million sales in Westmount were becoming a thing of the past, one small townhouse on Melville Ave. was selling for $965,000, the first under-$1 million sale to be posted since last May!

Thus, while the graph shows a definite slide in the past three months, we have to remember that the average adjusted price remains above $2 million where it has been since last April, and the average mark-up over valuation actually increased last month to 38 percent, with no sales at anything less than a 23-percent mark-up. Because the price range was so much lower, the actual average price was $1,724,125, but when adjusted for mark-ups and volume, the “typical” Westmount house still is selling for well over $2 million.

Only two condominiums — both in older buildings — were reported sold in January, along with two co-operative units, one in a duplex and the other in Westmount Square. The only conclusion we can draw at this point is that last year the condo market ended up strong, with a 24.6-percent increase in the value of the “typical” Westmount condo, but again prices have eased off somewhat since the fall.

For adjacent-Westmount, again the slow market was evident: two house sales in eastern Notre Dame de Grâce, both for prices between $1 and $1.5 million, and one sale just east of Westmount with a price over $2 million.

But while things were slow in January, this looks like a busy year to come. By mid-February the number of house listings had increased to 90 from 77 a month previous, and prices are so positive that many agents are listing houses exclusively — such as the $40 million asking price for the McConnell mansion on Sunnyside Ave. (see The Gazette, Feb. 8).

Six new house rentals came on the market last month, bringing the total available to 24. The latest are all for amounts over $10,000 per month, even though no Westmount rentals were posted for all of last year over that amount. Three houses have already been rented this year, for amounts ranging from $4,950 to $7,000 per month.

Posted by andy January 2019

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