Quebec home sales market remains resilient

Residential sales in Quebec reached 18,283 for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of one percent compared to the same quarter in 2022, says the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB). This level of transactional activity is higher than average for this time of year. 

“Despite the latest wave of interest rate hikes at the beginning of summer, third-quarter transactional activity in the Quebec market was surprisingly robust. At the same time, active listings rose at a significantly lower rate than during the first two quarters of the year. The good performance of both the Montreal and Quebec City census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Quebec’s largest markets, partly explains this situation,” says Charles Brant, market analysis director at QPAREB. 

Transactional activity by property category varied between zero percent and +8 percent: plexes, with 1,755 transactions, stand out with an eight percent increase; condominiums (4,493 sales) followed with an increase of three percent; and sales of single-family homes remained stable (zero percent) to reach 11,971 transactions. 

In urban centres outside metropolitan areas, some localities experienced a sharper drop in sales between the third quarters of 2022 and 2023. However, a group of small urban centres performed well with a growth in sales compared to a year ago. Matane (+25 per cent) and Granby (+24 per cent) were among the localities which posted the sharpest increases. The Rivière-du-Loup (+18 per cent) and Rimouski (+16 per cent) markets follow. Finally, Saint-Georges (+6 per cent) and Sainte-Adèle (+5 per cent) also experienced an increase in sales.