Montreal home sales down 12% in February amid fewer listings
BNN Bloomberg
The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal's February sales were down by 12% since last year, as the market grappled with a lack of listings.
The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal's February sales were down by 12 per cent since last year, as the market grappled with a lack of listings.
The association says 4,399 homes in the market changed hands last month, a drop from 5,025 last February.
It attributed the slowdown to February 2021 being a frenzied month and noted that last month's sales were in line with average sales levels seen back in 2016.
The association says new listings sat at 5,899 last month, a four per cent decrease from 6,130 during the same month the year before.
The median price of a single family home soared by 20 per cent since last February to $550,000 last month, while condos were up by 16 per cent to $395,000.
The association's director of market analysis, Charles Brant, says pressure on prices remains high, but he sees an easing coming after the Bank of Canada hiked the interest rate to 0.5 per cent this week.
In a strategic election-year manoeuvre, U.S. President Joe Biden has introduced substantial tariff increases on various Chinese goods, aiming to strengthen domestic production in crucial sectors. Although the move is aimed at protecting American labour and businesses from what Biden deems unfair practices, the impact could be huge if Canada follows suit.