April Sales: Back on Track

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The Westmount real estate market made a strong recovery at the end of March and appears to be back on track for new heights in coming months, with four new postings in late March (including one sale at $4 million) and eight more in April, though volume still has to improve before we can say the market is “normal.”

The price of Westmount’s “typical” house evaluated by the city at $1,575,722 (theoretically) is now pushing the $2,200,000 level. The number selling for less than $1 million since last June is exactly one ($965,000, negotiated in January), and the number of sales below valuation during the same time period is three. Volume for the first four months of 2019 is exactly the same as a year ago, but that was the lowest year-to-date since we began keeping records in 1986.

In April, the eight sales ranged between $1,055,000 and $2,590,000, with four prices over $2 million. Mark-ups over valuation ranged from 18.7 percent to 65.8 percent, averaging 44.3 percent which is 17 percentage points over the average for March, though slightly lower than the average for January. The January and April statistics helped pull the average so far this year to 33.5 percent over valuation, and the average price of 41 sales is $2,040,615.

Condominium prices and mark-ups surged forward as well, with seven sales in April including two over $2 million, and the highest price of $2,700,000 also representing the highest mark-up over valuation of 84.3 percent, for a lower-floor unit at 1 Wood Ave. The average mark-up for the April sales was 40.5 percent, while in the first quarter of the year the average for condos was only 16.5 percent.

Adjacent-Westmount sales flourished as well, particularly in eastern Notre Dame de Grâce, though things are still very slow in southern Côte des Neiges, including mainly the Circle Road and Cedar Crescent homes. So far this year we have had 13 sales in the NDG area with prices ranging from $945,000 to $2,200,000, while in Côte des Neiges there have been only three sales, ranging from $985,000 to $1,300,000.

While the pace of sales is still slow, the number of listings on the market is picking up, now 110 Westmount homes available, up from 100 a month ago and 85 in mid-January. And the fact that only one sale has been transacted at less than $1 million ignored the fact that six houses are listed below that mark; five more are listed over $10 million.

Seven new house rentals were posted in the last month, bringing the total for the year to 16. The range of rentals this year is between $3,500 and $9,000 per month, though nine of the 25 being offered are listed at more than $10,000.

Posted by andy Posted in: Monthly Analysis No Comments » April 2019

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