L’ÎLE-DES-SŒURS, Quebec, April 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) has released its most recent residential real estate market statistics for the province of Quebec, based on the real estate brokers’ Centris provincial database. In total, 27,817 residential transactions were concluded in the first quarter of 2020, a notable 18 per cent increase compared to the first quarter of last year. This was the 23rd consecutive quarterly increase in sales and the largest first-quarter sales result since the real estate brokers’ Centris system began compiling market data in the year 2000.

Sales

• In total, 18,709 single-family homes (+17 per cent), 6,885 condominiums (+18 per cent) and 2,127 plexes (+27 per cent) changed hands across Quebec in the first quarter of 2020.
• Geographically, the agglomerations of Sept-Îles (+59 per cent), Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (+52 per cent), Sorel-Tracy (+50 per cent), Granby (+46 per cent) and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (+44 per cent) stood out with the strongest residential sales increases.
• As for the province’s six census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Quebec City registered the largest increase in sales at 34 per cent, followed by Gatineau at 24 per cent. The Trois-Rivières CMA also stood out with an increase of 21 per cent.
• The Sherbrooke, Montreal and Saguenay CMAs also posted notable sales increases of 14, 13 and 4 per cent, respectively.

Prices

• The median price of single-family homes for the province as a whole increased by 8 per cent to reach $275,000.
• In the metropolitan areas, the largest increases in the median price of single-family homes were in the Gatineau and Montreal CMAs (+11 per cent), followed by the Sherbrooke CMA (+7 per cent).
• Outside of the metropolitan areas, the largest price increases for single-family homes were in the agglomerations of Mont-Tremblant (+32 per cent), Sainte-Adèle (+29 per cent), Rivière-du-Loup (+24 per cent), Sept-Îles (+17 per cent) and Saint-Sauveur (+14 per cent).
• Provincially, the median price of condominiums increased by 8 per cent to reach $250,000, while that of plexes jumped by 11 per cent, reaching $425,000.

Active listings

• The downward trend in supply continued for a seventeenth consecutive quarter. Between January and March 2020, there was an average of 48,787 properties for sale in the real estate brokers’ Centris system, down 21 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019.
• The decrease in the number of properties for sale over the past year was particularly pronounced in the Gatineau (-37 per cent), Montreal (‑32 per cent) and Sherbrooke (-24 per cent) CMAs.

Market conditions and selling times

• Once again, market conditions have tightened in the vast majority of the province’s regions.
• Selling times across the province shortened compared to one year earlier: it took an average of 93 days (‑11 days) to sell a single-family home, 79 days (-22 days) to sell a condominium and 96 days (-3) to sell a plex.

“With nearly 28,000 transactions (+18 per cent), the first quarter of 2020 marks the peak of the resale market in Quebec. However, this will be a sharp contrast to the decline that we are expected to in the second quarter of the year, due to the application of social distancing measures and the suspension of so-called non-essential economic activities imposed by the government," said Julie Saucier, president and chief executive officer of the QPAREB.

"This market vitality, which has been artificially halted since mid-March, suggests resilience for the coming months,” added Charles Brant, director of the QPAREB’s Market Analysis Department. “It thus bodes well for a significant latent demand from buyers while the supply of residential properties on the market should continue to be relatively limited in many areas."

For more detailed market statistics for the province, click here.

About the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers

The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) is a non-profit association that brings together more than 13,000 real estate brokers and agencies. It is responsible for promoting and defending their interests while taking into account the issues facing the profession and the various professional and regional realities of its members. The QPAREB is also an important player in many real estate dossiers, including the implementation of measures that promote homeownership. The Association reports on Quebec's residential real estate market statistics, provides training, tools and services relating to real estate, and facilitates the collection, dissemination and exchange of information. The QPAREB is headquartered in Quebec City and has its administrative offices in Montreal. It has two subsidiaries: Centris Inc. and the Collège de l'immobilier du Québec. Follow its activities at qpareb.ca or via its social media pages: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

About Centris

Centris.ca is Quebec’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 Quebec.

Click on the links below to consult the regional press releases:

Montreal CMA
RMR de Québec
Agglomération de Granby
Agglomération de Joliette
Agglomérations des Laurentides
Agglomération de Saint-Hyacinthe

For more information: