MONTREAL
Rivière des Prairies district
$299,999
- Detached house built in 1954 with three bedrooms, one in the basement, and two bathrooms.
- The property, which also features a back yard, has “lots of potential for the contractor or savvy DIY enthusiast,” according to the online ad.
- The property is close to major freeways and Highway 40.
Accessing the Montreal real estate market is becoming increasingly difficult for both first-time buyers and families on budgets under $400,000.
“Unless you put down a large down payment, which usually only experienced buyers have, it’s very difficult to afford even the smallest home at the prices prevailing in Montreal right now,” says Jocelyn Vaillant, real estate agent at Via Capitale.
- Listen to the interview with Mario Dumont Marc Lefrançois, Licensed Real Estate Agent at Royal LePage Tendance on QUB Radio:
Photo courtesy of Centris
The property is located in the commune of Rivière-des-Prairies.
While the maximum spending power for a couple on an average income is $315,800, the homeowner’s dream is dwindling in the greater Montreal area, agrees Simon Bellemare, a real estate agent for RE/MAX in Montreal’s Mont-Royal neighborhood.
Photo courtesy of Centris
There is a lot of work to be done; The property is recommended for “savvy do-it-yourselfers”.
“Under $400,000 generally there really aren’t any options left [à Montréal]. There will be some, but they’re not necessarily the choices people obviously want at the top of the list. We will have many basements. It will be badly located condos that don’t have parking,” he explains.
Result: In general, it is in the municipality of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles that we find the most results, both for condominiums and houses.
Photo courtesy of Centris
The backyard of the house needs some love.
“[En date du 26 octobre] There are 275 condos for sale in Montreal for under $315,000. By adding at least three rooms, we drop to just six results, leaving very few options,” notes Mr. Bellemare.
Even more overkill?
With interest rates rising, the Montreal market is beginning to calm down. “Instead of having 10 or 15 competing offers in front of us, for example, we get half of them. And in general, the bonuses added to the displayed price are also less important than what we saw earlier this spring. […] Believe me, up until then, overbids of $100,000 to $120,000 were very, very common,” adds Jocelyn Vaillant.
PRICE FOR 5 YEARS
Montreal
+79%
Five-year percentage increase in the median price of single-family homes in the greater Montreal area.
In addition, it is also the return to a reasonable and above all normal sales period that has brought down the temperature of overheating that we have experienced in the last two years.
“People have forgotten that they were very lucky when they sold their property 60 or 90 days before the pandemic. What we experienced by selling in just a few days was temporary because there was almost nothing on the market,” adds Mr. Bellemare.