Excellent First Quarter for Residential Sales in Québec

L'ÎLE-DES-SŒURS, QC, April 15, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) has released its most recent residential real estate market statistics for the province of Québec, based on the real estate brokers' Centris provincial database. In total, 23,667 sales were concluded in the first quarter of 2019, a significant increase of 8 per cent compared to the first quarter of last year. This was the 19th consecutive quarterly increase in sales.

Here are some of the highlights for the first quarter of 2019:

Sales

• In total, 16,010 single-family homes (+7 per cent), 5,866 condominiums (+12 per cent) and 1,694 plexes (+1 per cent) changed hands in Québec in the first quarter of the year.
• Geographically, the agglomerations of Joliette (+51 per cent), Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (+39 per cent), Amos and Drummondville (+36 per cent), La Tuque (+35 per cent) and Rawdon (+33 per cent) stood out with the largest increases in residential sales.
• As for the province's six census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Trois-Rivières registered the largest increase in sales at 24 per cent, followed by Saguenay at 17 per cent. The Gatineau CMA also performed well, posting a 16 per cent rise in sales. Transactions in the Québec City, Montréal and Sherbrooke CMAs also held their ground with respective sales increases of 8 per cent, 6 per cent and 5 per cent.

"The demand for properties remains very strong, as we can see by the widespread increase in sales across the province," said Yanick Desnoyers, Manager of the QFREB's Market Analysis Department. "The solid performance of Québec's real estate market is all the more impressive because it comes at a time when markets in Canada's other provinces are declining," he added.

Active listings

• The number of properties for sale continued its downward trend, as supply fell for a thirteenth consecutive quarter. In total, 61,885 residential properties were for sale on the real estate brokers' Centris system, which is a 9 per cent drop compared to the first quarter of last year.
• The number of listings fell by 8 per cent for single-family homes (41,557) and by 18 per cent for condominiums (13,397), but increased by 5 per cent for plexes (6,148).

Prices

• For the province as a whole, the median price of single-family homes rose by 3 per cent to reach $255,000.
• The largest increases in median price for single-family homes were in the agglomerations of Thetford Mines (+23 per cent), Shawinigan (+13 per cent), Rawdon (+10 per cent), Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (+8 per cent) and Drummondville (+6 per cent).
• The median price of condominiums increased by 1 per cent across the province to reach $231,000, and the median price of plexes remained unchanged at $385,000.

Finally, properties that sold in the first quarter of 2019 found a buyer faster than they did one year ago. Single-family homes sold in an average of 104 days, which is 6 days less than in the first quarter of last year, while condominiums sold in an average of 101 days, 14 days faster than last year.

For detailed statistics on specific regions of Québec, read the regional press releases (in French):

Abitibi-Témiscamingue	Marché immobilier résidentiel en Abitibi-Témiscamingue : l'avantage est toujours aux vendeurs
Centre-du-Québec	Marché immobilier du Centre-du-Québec : Victoriaville et Drummondville affichent toutes deux de fortes hausses des ventes au premier trimestre de 2019
Estrie	La croissance soutenue des ventes résidentielles de la région de Sherbrooke se maintient au premier trimestre
Haute-Yamaska	L'activité s'accélère sur le marché immobilier résidentiel de l'agglomération de Granby en ce début d'année
Lanaudière	Reprise de l'activité sur le marché immobilier résidentiel de l'agglomération de Joliette au premier trimestre de 2019
Laurentides	Marché immobilier résidentiel des Laurentides : Saint-Sauveur fait flèche de tout bois au premier trimestre de 2019
Mauricie	Reprise vigoureuse des ventes sur le marché immobilier résidentiel de Trois-Rivières au premier trimestre de 2019
Montréal	Momentum Continues on Montréal's Real Estate Market in First Quarter of 2019
Outaouais	Hausse vertigineuse des ventes résidentielles dans la région de Gatineau
Québec	Un début d'année exceptionnel pour les ventes résidentielles dans la région de Québec
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean	L'année démarre du bon pied sur le marché immobilier résidentiel de la région de Saguenay au premier trimestre de 2019

About the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards

The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards is a non-profit organization composed of Québec's 8 real estate boards and the close to 13,000 real estate brokers who are their members. Its mission is to support Québec's real estate boards in order to defend, protect and promote the interests of real estate brokers through the provision of services in the areas of professional practices, public affairs and market analysis. The QFREB is guided by an approach that is centred on collaboration and resource sharing.

About Centris 

Centris.ca is Québec'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 Québec.

For more detailed statistics on each of the geographic areas of Québec, read the QFREB Barometer.

SOURCE Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards

Jacynthe Alain, Assistant Manager, Communications and Public Relations, Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards, Tel.: [phone], ext. 175, [email protected]