November 2010 MLS® Sales: New Record for the Island of Montréal

Île-des-Soeurs, December 9, 2010 – November 2010 MLS® sales on the Island of

Montréal set a new record with 1,370 sales, an increase of 1 per cent, slightly

 surpassing the previous record set in November 2009, according to the Greater

Montréal Real Estate Board\'s (GMREB) MLS® statistics. Sales in the Montréal

Metropolitan Area decreased by 5 per cent in November 2010, while year-to-date sales

increased by 2 per cent.

“November was a strong month for the Montréal area real estate market,” said Diane

Ménard, Vice-President of the GMREB Board of Directors. “It’s true that MLS® sales

decreased for a seventh consecutive month, but the decrease was much smaller than

those registered in recent months. Furthermore, some areas really stood out, such as

Laval, which posted a 3 per cent increase in sales, and the Island of Montréal which set

a new November sales record,” she added.

Condominiums also stood out in November 2010, as it was the only property category to register an increase in sales in the

Montréal area. The 983 condominium  sales set a new November record,

surpassing the November 2009 peak by 3 per cent. Condominium sales

increased in most of the main areas in the Montréal region. Only the South

Shore posted a decrease in condominium sales (-9 per cent). On the

Island of Montréal, in Laval and on the North Shore, the number of

condominiums sold in November 2010 increased by 4, 23 and 15 per cent, respectively, compared to November 2009.

However, the increase in condominium sales was not enough to offset the decrease in

sales of single-family homes (-7 per cent) and plexes (-13 per cent) in the Montréal area.

Geographically, the North Shore (-10 per cent) and the South Shore (-14 per cent) were

primarily responsible for pulling Montréal area residential sales downward. Sales in the

Vaudreuil-Soulanges area decreased slightly by 3 per cent.

In terms of prices, all three property categories registered a 7 per cent increase in

median price in November 2010 compared to November 2009. In the Montréal area, the

median price of single-family homes reached $260,750, that of condominiums reached

$218,000 and that of plexes reached $385,000.

“These price increases are good news for sellers, as it shows that real estate continues

to be a solid investment. Furthermore, selling times continued to decrease in November,

which is also encouraging for sellers. There was good news for buyers as well, as they

had more choice compared to November 2009 as active listings increased by 7 per

cent,” said Diane Ménard.

About the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board

The Greater Montréal Real Estate Board is a non-profit organization that brings together

most of the real estate brokers who work in the Greater Montréal area. With more than

10,500 members, it is the second largest board in Canada. Its mission is to actively

promote and protect its members\' professional and business interests in order for them

to successfully meet their business objectives and maintain their predominance in the

real estate industry

 For further information:

Chantal de Repentigny

Assistant Director

Communications, Industry Relations and Legal Affairs

Phone: 514-762-2440, extension 130

chantal.derepentigny@gmreb.qc.ca

Important Note

The Greater Montréal Real Estate Board publishes its MLS® sales statistics by Montréal Metropolitan Area

territory, as defined by Statistics Canada during the last census. The list of municipalities that make up this

territory is available at www.statcan.ca.

In addition, the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board uses the median price to measure the evolution of

property prices. The median price is the middle price, in other words, half of the transactions had a lower

price and the other half had a higher price.