Montreal housing market hits lull on lower sales, flat prices

Montreal's housing market saw a drop in sales in August, while prices were in a holding pattern.

Home sales in the Montreal census metropolitan area fell 6 per cent in August from a year earlier, to 2,234, according to the latest report from the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board.

The median price of a single-family home in the Montreal area remained stable compared to a year ago at $285,000.

The median price for condos was off by 1 per cent at $230,150, the first drop in 8 months for the category.

The fall in overall sales followed increases of 3 per cent and 2 per cent chalked up in June and July, respectively, the board said on Monday.

Most striking in the latest batch of numbers is the 11-per-cent fall-off in condo sales in August after a 13-per-cent surge in July, Diane Ménard, the board's vice-president, said.

Single-family home sales fell 3 per cent, the report says.

Montreal is in stark contrast to Toronto's still hot market, where the average selling price in August was $546,303, up 8.9 per cent from a year ago.

Transactions were up 2.8 per cent compared with the year-earlier period.

Preliminary data from Vancouver and Calgary indicate continued rising prices in their respective residential markets.