Interest-rate hike unlikely to cool Montreal’s sizzling housing market: experts

The median price of a single-family home in Greater Montreal jumped 20 per cent in the first three months of 2022, according to data compiled by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers.

“We don’t see today’s rate increase as having a major short-term impact on the market,” Dominic St-Pierre, vice-president and general manager of Royal LePage for Quebec, said in a telephone interview.

Wednesday’s increase, the Bank of Canada’s second in as many months, “won’t put properties back on the market, but it’s going to make buying a home much harder at a time when the cost of living is accelerating,” Charles Brant, QPAREB’s head of market analysis, said in an interview.

The average mortgage in Quebec was about $220,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Rising property prices during the first quarter already reflected homebuyer expectations that interest rates were headed higher, said Brant.

As of Wednesday morning, Centris showed about 40,000 houses for sale across Quebec.

“Typically, people who were looking to buy a home would start by putting their house on the market, but this is not what’s happening,” he said.

Royal LePage recently revised its full-year forecast to reflect the first-quarter surge in prices.

We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments.

This website uses cookies to personalize your content , and allows us to analyze our traffic.

…Read the full story