Showing posts with label housing prices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label housing prices. Show all posts

Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Gap Between Asked and Sold Prices, Not All Montreal Neighborhoods Are Created Equal.

 Roberto Rocha, a tech-savvy reporter at The Gazette crunched some real-estate sales numbers to see which neighborhoods in Montreal have the smallest gap between asking prices and sale  prices in this softer than usual market. It makes for interesting reading.



These are are average listing and sale prices for all housing types combined. Nice to see my favorite, Verdun, up near the top of the list. I think it might have done even better had the numbers been parsed more closely to exclude Nuns' Island. The island and mainland are very distinct real estate beasts. 

I do wonder how it can be that Outremont, home to Quebec's francophone business, legal and health care elites and that great bald-headed Cirque du Soleil git Whatshisname, can possibly have an average asking price of $450,000. That will buy you a nicer than average house near the water in Verdun, but certainly not a three-bedroom starter mansion in Outremont. Hmm.

The Plateau, where I do a fair amount of business, remains a hot commodity, with properties selling for just a shade under 95 per cent of asking price.

Westmount trails the pack, with a nearly 10-per-cent gap between asking and sold prices.

Have a look. 





Saturday, December 17, 2011

Pauline Marois Sells Her Ile-Bizard Palace

La Closerie, 7 bathrooms, 3 powder rooms, 7 bedrooms, 'Nuff said.
It seems that Parti Québecois leader Pauline Marois has managed to unload her estate in the wilds of Ile Bizard. The 1.7 million-square-foot property known has La Closerie had been on the market since July, 2009.
The property was listed on the MLS for much of that time, though the last listing expired in December a year ago at $8 million. Chateau Marois is currently listed with Sotheby's Quebec, despite the presence of an offending apostrophe in the company name, Perhaps Mme. Marois chose to overlook that little linguistic transgression in the interest of a speedy sale.
The listing is now at $6.98 million. I guess it was priced to move, what with a provincial election looming in the not too distant future and Marois consistently placing a distant third in opinion polls. Hard to position yourself as Quebec's social democratic alternative to the corrupt Liberals and the right-wing arriviste Coaliton pour L'avenir du Québec when the school and property taxes on the house you own are more than what the average Quebec receptionist earns in a year. ($36,009 vs $34,919.)
Do you suppose she's now scoping out a little bungalow in Répentigny?

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Montreal Resales Top the Billion Dollar Mark

Montreal home sales rose by three per cent in October, the sixth straight month of sales increase in the metropolitan area.
The big news is that sales topped the $1-billion mark, a notable accomplishment in a market where the average price of a single-family home is in the range of $270,000 and the average condo just under $227,000.
Price hikes were seen in most parts of Greater Montreal, with the exception of the South Shore, where sales were flat and the nunber of active listings rose by 21 per cent.
For the record, only a modest part of that $1 billion ended up in my mink-lined pocket last month.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Zoocasa: When an Appraisal Isn't Worth the Paper It Isn't Written On,

Big splash in the Globe and Mail this morning about a new function on Zoocasa.com's do it yourself real-estate search site. Now with a few keystrokes consumers can get an appraisal of their property.
Zoocasa, which is owned by media giant Rogers Communications, has partnered with Centract Settlement Services, an appraisal firm owned by Brookfield Residential PropertyServices. Brookfield, by the way, also owns Royal LePage and Via Capital.
As usual, the news story is full of quotes about how this service will deal yet another blow to rotten real estate agents who hoard information and then charge people money to access it instead of giving it away for free.
First off, pretty much any agent on the planet will give a homeowner a free valuation of their property as part of their sales pitch. We don't get paid until we sell the house.
Second, the Zoopraisal function is only an estimate, based on the sale of similar properties in the neighborhood. That might work in a subdivion where all the houses or condos are cookie-cutter, but it won't do you any good in a neighborhood where the houses are different. It also doesn't account for improvements or differences in location within a neighborhood. For instance, next to the crackhouse is almost always worth less than two blocks away from the crackhouse, right?
I took the service out for a spin, using it to appraise my own home. Punching in my address, the software next prompted me to choose a housing type but wouldn't let me choose "bungalow", only two storey, side-split or condo. Hmmmm.
I chose side-split, because the fun I was having was, you know, side-splitting.
Within a nanosecond the computer churned out a value, that was conservatively $100,000 more than my house is actually worth. That was the mid-range value. The low range was about $25,000 below, while the highest value was about $175,000 too high.
My house is worth X, give or take $175,000. Thanks so much Zoocasa for clearing that up.
If I were to put my house up for sale tomorrow, which of the appraisal website's proposed values would I use to price my house?
Never mind algorithms, the best way to price a house is to have someone who knows the market walk through and study the comparable sales in the neighborhood within the last 6-12 months.
The dinkus who runs the service says that "hoarding of information" is a "crutch" that has hurt agents. This from a guy who works for a media conglomerate that sells specialty television packages, cable TV service, cellular telephone and Internet services and a host of magazines, among other things. How come when Rogers charges for information it's business and when I give mine away for free it is "hoarding"?
Things that make me go hmnnnn.
As the old saying goes, Beware Greeks bearing gifts. By which I don't mean Greeks and I certainly don't mean gifts.

******
Later. . .

And another thing. Don't you think that if they wanted to they could have put a really good appraisal tool online? I mean, Brookfield has an in-house appraisal firm so it must be able to collate the data. Could it be that Brookfield prefers to "hoard" the information?  @%#&ers!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Looking for Real Estate Deals

I just took part in a live chat hosted by The Gazette on the topic of finding real estate deals. The questions came at us fast and thick. It was a bit chaotic but lotsa fun.

You can read the transcript here. There are some good tips for finding deals and knowing a deal when you see one.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Smart Guy Sticks a Pin in Talk of Housing Bubble

Gazette business columnist Jay Bryan ushered out 2010 with an excellent column that explains in clear, simple terms why all the hysterical talk about the bursting of the Canadian housing bubble is so much nonsense.
He's right, of course. The Globe and Mail regularly ran stories in the Report of Business about the imminent collapse of the housing market here. Any day now. Any... day... now. . .   I guess it made a nice change from those stories about whether there was going to be a snap federal election zzzzzzzz. Sorry, the thought of an election is so boring, I must have dozed off.
I ran into several buyers in 2010 who were poised to invest in real estate because they were certain that the market was about to collapse and they would be able to swoop in and buy up distressed properties at deep discounts. With clients like that, I listen politely and then gently disagree. Prices are rising, not by leaps and bounds but they are rising. Anybody who thinks they are going to get a great deal and pay less than they did a year ago, or even two years ago, is mistaken.
Here's the column, which I can't help but notice is being widely reposted in the blogosphere. Skeptical bloggers are taking aim at Jay Bryan and accusing him of drinking Canadian Real Estate Association Kool-Aid.
I think we should let those bloggers get back to stocking up their bomb shelters.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Bursting the Myth of the Real Estate Bubble

If I had a nickel for every time someone has said they were waiting for Montreal's real estate "bubble" to burst, I'd have enough money to buy one of those fancy lattés instead of a Timmy's double-double.
The myth of the bubble is the single biggest misconception I battle as an agent. I can talk until I'm blue in the face about fundamentals like interest rates, job creation and demographic shifts and the impact they have on the local housing market but I guess I have all the credibility of a used-car sales person. "Trust me! I'm a real estate agent."
OK, so don't believe me. But take a peek at this column by Gazette business scribe Jay Bryan. He puts his boots (more like LL Bean mocs, actually) to the myth of the housing bubble

Here's an interesting point to note about the Montreal real estate scene. The number of properties for sale in May, the last month for which there are statistics, fell by 16 per cent compared to a year earlier. That might have to do with nervousness. It's also true that if people don't list, other people don't list and next thing you know, there's a shortage of listings. A classic Catch 22.
That shortage of listings translated into an 8-per-cent drop in sales. Still, despite the inventory squeeze, the volume or total dollar value of sales rose by 1 per cent compared to May, 2009. Prices for houses, condos and plexes were up 8 per cent, 7 per cent and 11 per cent respectively, according to the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board
Not too shabby

Thursday, September 10, 2009

No Dog Days of August for Montreal Real Estate

Resale housing in the Greater Montreal region rose by robust 9 per cent in August, according to the latest figures from the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board.
The prices increases were seen in all property types and across a wide geographic area.
The number of single-family home sales rose by 5 per cent compared to August of last year, totaling 1,674 properties. On the condo front, sales rose by 15 per cent to 855, while plex sales rose by 17 per cent to 337 units.
All three property types saw price increases, too. Single homes rose by an average of 6 per cent, plexes ( 2 to 5 units) rose 5 per cent and condos by 3 per cent.
The board pointed to the usual factors -- low borrowing rates, an improving job market and stronger consumer confidence -- as the key to the August market.
It must also be noted that August, 2008 was about the time all hell began to break loose in the U.S. economy, with failures setting off a chain reaction of business failings and job losses.
Montreal managed to dodge the bullet, at least compared to many other large North American cities. Still, the beginning of the year was a little too quiet for most agents' liking.
First-time buyers kept us busy during the bleakest part of winter. New rules allowing first-timers to withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs helped quite a bit. Eventually, vendors and buyers regained their nerve, making for a busy May through August.
The cheery portrait was confirmed in a new report by RBC Economic Research, the thinking end of the big chartered bank. RBC tracks housing affordability across Canada - ie the portion of pretax household revenue needed to service mortgage, utilities and taxes. Affordability got a boost in the second quarter, thanks to lower mortgage rates and a softer real estate market.
In Montreal, that meant carrying costs for the typical bungalow ate up 37.3 per cent of household income, down from 38.1 per cent during the previous three-month period.
For the average condo owner, 30.1 per cent of household income were dedicated to paying the mortgage et al, compared to 30.9 per cent three months earlier.
The average Vancouver bungalow owner spends 63.4 per cent of household income paying the mortgage. In Tawrawna, it's 45.6 per cent.
"Greater affordability has opened the door more fully to buyers, who have sprung into action," noted Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC. "Sales of existing homes in Quebec have rebounded strongly, rising by more than 40 per cent from the cyclical low reached mid-winter, with improved market sentiment helping prices rise."
Taking the current market conditions into account, the Royal says affordability is unlikely to show much more improvement locally in the near term.

Monday, June 15, 2009

What $180,000 to $190,000 Can Get You




At least 280 properties have sold since the beginning of 2009 for between $180,000 and $190,000 in greater Montreal. Included in that number are at least 67 single-family homes.
That should be good news to anyone who thinks that housing prices have risen beyond reach. Know hope! There are still plenty of affordable homes to be had, especially if you are willing to be something of an adventurer and take up residence outside your comfort zone. Yes, my Plateau hipsters, I'm talking to you!

The three properties posted here all sold for between $180k and $190k this year. They are all located in central neighborhoods and offer three different ownership possibilities.

The bottom photo features a duplex on Dumas St. in Ville Emard, located within walking distance of the Monk métro stop and near Ignace-Bourget Park, home to an awwwwwesome tobogganing hill.
The duplex features two two-bedroom apartments, each rented at $500 a month. The listing mentioned the possibility of quick owner occupancy. By paying 5 per cent down and using the rent from the other unit, a buyer could in theory reduce the monthly mortgage payment to about $500 a month.

The middle photo shows an upper undivided condo on St. Vallier St. in lovely Petite Patrie.
(I've been enchanted by St. Vallier St. ever since first hearing the Beau Dommage song Tous les Palmiers. It's about saying goodbye to sunny tropical climes for the joy of Montreal in early spring. "Adieu, adieu pays des oranges/ J'm'en vais aider mon frère qui déménage." The chorus goes "Soixante dix-sept soixante St-Vallier, Montréal.)
I digress.
The building is held in undivided co-ownership, which means that rather than buying a unit, the buyer acquires a fraction of the total building. Undivided properties generally sell for less than comparable divided properties. The upside is that they have lower school and municipal taxes. The downside is that buyers generally have to put at least a 20 per cent deposit when purchasing. This upgraded upper features two bedrooms and a balcony, plus a large storage area in the basement. The Beaubien métro is close by, as are St. Denis and Beaubien Sts., Little Italy and the Jean-Talon market.

The top photo features a Montreal shoebox-style bungalow in eastern Ville-Marie. In fact, it's so far east I'm not sure why it isn't considered Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, or HoMa, as the cool kids are calling it these days.
This 1,000-square-foot home has three closed bedrooms, as well as a living room and dining. The kitchen has a skylight and there are patio doors leading to an enclosed backyard. The garden has a pear tree, an apple tree and a cherry tree, as well as three kinds of grape vines. There's a fireplace in the living room and many upgrades including thermal windows, copper plumbing and a new hot water tank. The house is within five minutes of Frontenac métro.

These are just three of the nearly 300 properties that sold for between $180,000 and $190,000 so far this year. There are plenty of others to choose from in places like Rivière des Prairies, Pierrefonds and Mercier. If you're thinking of buying and affordability is on your mind, looking outside the hottest neighborhoods is a good option. You won't be alone. In its last quarterly market update, The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board reported that prices across the region rose 2 per cent between January and April. HoMa was one neighborhood that beat the Montreal average - prices there rose by 17 per cent, compared to the same quarter last year. Bargain-conscious buyers are flocking there. The same can be said for the Southwest borough, where prices are up a minimum of 37 per cent and as much as 55 per cent, depending of property type, over the last five years.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Fewer Sales But Higher Prices


The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board has just released its March sales numbers. It's a mixed bag, but we'll take it!
MLS sales for the month were down 12 per cent compared to March, 2008. Still, that's an improvement over February, when sales declined 30 per cent, or January, when sales were off by 37 per cent.
Despite the decline in transacations and a growing inventory of properties, prices are holding steady. The average single-home price rose by 1 per cent, while the average price of a condo rose by 2 per cent and the average plex (2- to 5 units) rose by 3 per cent last month.
Not all parts of greater Montreal fared the same during March. Sales were down by 4 per cent in Laval, 11 per cent on Montreal island, 14 per cent on the South Shore and a whopping 27 per cent in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, off the western tip of the island.
I'm curious about the large dip in Vaudreuil Soulanges. The area has seen a tremendous build up in recent years, perhaps there's surplus inventory of new construction putting pressure on the resale side. Maybe fear about the return of $1.50 a litre gasoline has people rethinking life in the far distant 450. Maybe it's a one-month anomoly thay will right itself next month.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Montreal Bucks Big City Trend

A report by National Bank and Teranet confirms that residential real estate prices in Montreal rose by 4.1 per cent last year, while across Canada prices declined.
In the country's three other large markets, the decrease ranged from -8.2 per cent in Calgary, to -4.2 per cent in Vancouver to -2.4 per cent in Toronto.
Buoyed by a run up in oil prices, Calgary saw resale prices leap by an average of 45 per cent in 2006. This led to a spate of speculative new construction. With oil prices down and the economy stalling, the city is now dealing with a housing glut.
In Vancouver, housing prices rose 24 per cent in 2007, which again led to a speculative frenzy that pushed prices out of the range of what the average consumer could afford. Prices will have to come down before the market can right itself, according the Michel Beauséjour, chief executive of the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board.
In Toronto, hits to the manufacturing sector have taken their toll on that city's housing sector, too. The troubled automobile sector is hurting prices in large swathes of southern Ontario. There was a story out this week that said you can now buy a house in Windsor for less than the cost of a new car. Never good.
Montreal has seen its own run-up in prices in recent years, the best of which was 2002 when prices rose by an average of 15 per cent.
Still, after a long recession in the mid 1990s, what the local market has experienced is 10 years of making up for lost time. Housing remains affordable, with little speculative investment, and few worries about over construction expect at the very high end of prices. Borrowing rates remain favourable and the economy, while volatile, is more diversified than in Ontario or Calgary and so might be better equipped to weather a recession.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Montreal Prices Holding Steady

I've taken on a number of new clients since the beginning of year, mostly young, first-time buyers who think they might be able to pick up a home at a bargain price because of the soft economy.
If I had a dollar for every client who has earnestly asked me whether prices are coming down, I'd be able to buy a round of coffee for all my faithful readers.
In fact, while Canada's other large cities are facing a steep drop in prices and an oversupply of listings, prices continue to hold steady in Montreal.
The just-out Teranet-National Bank composite house-price index shows that prices fell year-over-year in three of Canada's biggest centres, contributing to a 0.6-per-cent decline nationally. Prices were off in Calgary (-7.6 per cent), Vancouver (1.5 per cent) and Toronto (-0.6 per cent). Home prices rose by 5.4 per cent in Montreal. The survey looked at 2008 as a whole. The forecast is for Montreal prices to fall by 0.1 per cent in 2009. On a $250,000 home, that's a big $250 saving, about what you might expect to spend on your first trip to the hardware store as a homeowner. A nice bit of change, but hardly a deal maker or breaker in the great scheme of things.