A recent report released by the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) speculates
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that at the current pace, Quebec’s real estate sector will experience its fourth consecutive year of
growth in 2016. This despite the Canadian economy being in a very precarious position as a
result of global oil prices and the ever weakening Canadian dollar.
While real estate markets across the country have fluctuated as a result of economic volatility,
Quebec, and specifically Montreal, has remained steady with its modest annual growth. The
QFREB expects the number of sales in the province to grow by three percent more than 2015,
which saw a five percent increase from the year before.
“The residential real estate market’s upturn in 2015 will continue in 2016, at least during the
spring period, which is the most active time of the year for buying a property,” Paul Cardinal,
Manager of the QFREB’s Market Analysis Department, said.
Cardinal believes the increasing demand for homes this year will be supported by low interest
rates, a slight increase in net migration, modest job gains and a consumer confidence level in
Quebec that will hold steady.
The QFREB analysis was substantiated by data released in The Royal LePage House Price
Survey and Market Survey Forecast released last week. The Royal LePage report found home
prices in the Greater Montreal Area continued to increase during the fourth quarter of 2015, with
the average price of a home in the region rising over two percent.
Despite the rest of Canada bracing for economic instability, Montreal appears to be the one city
that is confident and optimistic about the coming year. Experts believe this favourable outlook is
being fueled by various positive economic factors.
“The house price increases we are seeing in the region can be explained by the fact that the
economy is doing relatively well, interest rates are low and consumer confidence is intact,” saidÂ
Dominic St-Pierre, Royal LePage senior director, for the Quebec region. “Over 35 percent of
Quebecers believe that now is a good time to make a major purchase, such as a property, which
shows a certain optimism and contributed to this quarter’s increase in sales.”
Montreal area businessman and real estate entrepreneur, Michael Genereux, agrees that now is
an opportune time to consider real estate investment in the province, even though other parts of
Canada are bracing for downturn. He comments that Quebec is more reliant on manufacturing.
That means, as Montreal’s Michael Genereux explains, a low dollar actual benefits the Quebec
economy.
Genereux points to Montreal’s increase in luxury property sales in 2015 as evidence that the
province’s economy is in good shape, saying that sales for million dollar plus homes were up 21
percent last year. Â Genereux adds that represents a good indicator of economic growth in the
province.
If the QFREB forecast is correct, the real estate market in Montreal will have its best year since
2012, a year when the Canadian economy was in a much different place.
