Third Quarter of 2017: Momentum Continues on Québec's Residential Real Estate Market

L'ÎLE-DES-SOEURS, QC, Oct. 13, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) has released its most recent residential real estate market statistics for the province of Québec, based on the real estate brokers' Centris^® provincial database. In total, 17,941 sales were concluded in the third quarter of the year, a 7 per cent increase compared to the third quarter of last year.

"Québec's resale market is doing exceptionally well, as this was the 13th consecutive quarterly increase in sales," said Paul Cardinal, Manager of the QFREB's Market Analysis Department. "Furthermore, this was the best third quarter sales result in eight years," he added.

Click here to see the main residential statistics for the province of Québec.

Here are the other highlights of the third quarter of 2017:

Sales

• For a third consecutive quarter, condominiums took the lead, as sales of this property category increased by 13 per cent (3,920 transactions).
• Sales of single-family homes (12,404 transactions) and plexes of 2 to 5 dwellings (1,508 transactions) increased by 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. 
• Geographically, four of the province's six Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) registered sales growth in the third quarter of the year: Trois-Rivières (+17 per cent), Québec City (+9 per cent), Montréal (+9 per cent) and Gatineau (+1 per cent). In contrast, the Sherbrooke and Saguenay CMAs posted a decrease in sales of 8 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.
• Most of the smaller urban centres also posted an increase in sales, with significant jumps in Sept-Îles (+48 per cent), Joliette (+36 per cent), Mont-Tremblant (+28 per cent) and Rouyn-Noranda (+25 per cent).

Prices

• The median price of single-family homes sold from July to September in Québec was $239,900. This is an increase of 5 per cent compared to the same period last year. This result is similar to that of the previous quarter, which saw the largest quarterly price increase in almost six years.
• The Montréal CMA set the pace with a 5 per cent increase in the median price of single-family homes ($320,500).
• Increases were more modest in the CMAs of Gatineau (+2 per cent), Sherbrooke (+2 per cent) and Québec City (+1 per cent), with respective median prices of $235,000, $209,000 and $250,750 for a single-family home.
• Elsewhere, prices were unchanged compared to the third quarter of last year in the Saguenay ($170,000) and Trois-Rivières ($148,000) CMAs.

The downward trend in the number of residential properties for sale in Québec continued for a seventh consecutive quarter. From July to September, there was an average of 68,651 active listings on the real estate brokers' Centris^® system, an 8 per cent drop compared to the third quarter of last year.

About the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards

The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards is a non-profit organization composed of Québec's 12 real estate boards and the close to 13,000 real estate brokers who are their members. Its mission is to support Québec's real estate boards in order to defend, protect and promote the interests of real estate brokers through the provision of services in the areas of professional practices, public affairs and market analysis. The QFREB is guided by an approach that is centred on collaboration and resource sharing

About Centris^®

Centris.ca is Québec's real estate industry website for consumers, grouping all properties for sale by a real estate broker under the same address. Société Centris^® provides real estate industry stakeholders with access to real estate data and a wide range of technology tools. Centris^® also manages the collaboration system used by more than 13,000 real estate brokers in Québec.

For more detailed statistics on each of the geographic areas of Québec, read the QFREB Barometer.

SOURCE Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards