Residential sales across the Montreal region rose 43.8 per cent in October 2024 compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers. The 3,824 transactions marked a sharp increase from 2,659 in October 2023, while median prices rose across major housing types.
Prices and listings
The median single-family home price increased 8.1 per cent year over year to $589,000. Plexes rose 7.1 per cent to $789,500, while the median condominium price climbed 6.2 per cent to $414,250.
New listings increased 10.7 per cent to 6,258 and active listings rose eight per cent to 18,201. More inventory gave buyers additional choice, but the simultaneous price gains showed that demand was also strengthening.
Why a percentage surge needs context
A 43.8 per cent annual increase sounds extraordinary, but the comparison began with a relatively weak October 2023. Year-over-year figures can be influenced by interest rates, economic confidence and the base month. Seasonally adjusted monthly data and longer trends help establish whether activity has durably changed.
Sales volume measures completed transactions, not the number of households that can afford to buy. Rising prices can increase owner equity while pushing required down payments and mortgage payments beyond more renters.
Interest rates and deferred demand
Borrowing costs had begun to fall in 2024, encouraging some buyers who had waited through higher rates to re-enter the market. A lower policy rate does not translate immediately or equally into every mortgage rate, and qualification rules still apply.
Expectations can amplify a change. Buyers who believe rates or prices will move may act earlier, while sellers respond by listing. That does not guarantee the same pace will continue once deferred transactions are completed.
Understanding the median
The median is the middle transaction price, not the cost of an average home whose quality is unchanged. If more expensive neighbourhoods or larger homes sell in one month, the median can rise even without every property gaining the same value.
Detached homes, plexes and condominiums serve different buyers and investors. Regional totals also conceal substantial differences among the Island of Montreal and surrounding suburbs.
What buyers and sellers could take from the data
A buyer should calculate payments under a realistic mortgage rate, closing costs, taxes, insurance and maintenance rather than interpret higher sales as pressure to rush. A seller should not assume the regional median predicts the price of a particular property.
Independent inspection and legal review remain important in a fast-moving market. Real-estate-board data is valuable, but the association represents brokers and is not a substitute for individualized financial advice.
Housing activity is not housing affordability
Strong resale activity may support renovation and related services, yet it does not create a home. Affordability over time depends on new construction, rental supply, household income and access to transportation and services.
October’s figures established that Montreal-area buyers returned in significant numbers and paid higher median prices than a year earlier. They did not prove a permanent boom. The sound interpretation combines the sales increase with inventory, property type and financing conditions, then waits for subsequent months before declaring a new market cycle.
