August Sales: Demand Dwindles

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Commitment to the upper portion of Westmount’s home price range appears to have dwindled in mid-summer, with no sales of property over $2 million reported in August, and the actual average price down to $1,283,333 in six sales, though mark-ups over valuation remained strong, averaging 31 percent. One late-July sale in Westmount cleared $2 million, but otherwise there has been very little recently to encourage the higher-priced market.

In August, the six sales ranged from $965,000 — the first under-$1 million sale since May and one of only four so far this year — to $1,650,000, making this the only month not to have a sale over $2 million since January, 2017. The lowest-priced sale was also the lowest mark-up over municipal valuation in August, at 5.7 percent, also the house which had been the longest on the market, 279 days. On the other hand, the highest price of $1,650,000 generated the highest mark-up of 47.2 percent, though that house also spent 203 days on the market. Two others sold in less than a week, so the overall average for the month was 102 days.

The average mark-up over valuation for August was 30.9 percent, way down from an average for July of 51.9 percent but generally just below the 37-percent average for the year. On that basis, the “typical” Westmount house with a valuation of $1,575,722 would be worth $2,063,340; with extremes removed and averages smoothed, we reach a figure of $2.2 million, continuing a slight downward trend which started in June. Because of the slow volume in July and August, this is no reason to panic, though if the trend continues we may see a significant shift in the local market.

Two condominium sales in August increased the third-quarter sales list for Westmount condos to eight; in fact the highest- and lowest-priced apartments/flats of the quarter were added to the list: $2,185,000 for a high-rise condo at Château Westmount Square, 4175 St. Catherine Street, and $435,000 for one floor of a duplex on Victoria Ave. The average mark-up of third-quarter sales is 34.4 percent, almost the same as for one- and two-family dwellings, with September sales still to be added to the list.

Though July had been very busy in adjacent-Westmount districts, August was almost dormant, with one house sale on Circle Road, one condominium at the Trafalgar Apartments on Côte des Neiges Rd. and two co-op apartments, including a flat in a triplex in Notre Dame de Grâce.

The lethargy in the over-$2 million market has pushed the number of active listings for Westmount houses to 132 from 119 a month earlier, but only four more are in the $2 to $3 million category. Five more houses were rented in August, bringing the total for the year to 33, in a range from $2,900 to $15,000 a month. Another 25 houses are up for rent, the lowest asking price is $4,000 monthly and the highest is $20,000.

Posted by andy August 2019

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