Montreal home sales fall 18% in October as listings climb nearly 20%

Home sales in the Montreal area fell 18 per cent in October from a year earlier while the number of properties for sale climbed almost 20 per cent, easing a market that has long favoured sellers, the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) said Friday.

The board, which publishes its figures through the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (APCIQ) from Centris data, counted 3,252 residential transactions in the Montreal census metropolitan area in October. That is about 13 per cent below the ten-year average for the month, according to the QPAREB release. The Canadian Press, reporting the same data, put the year-over-year drop at 17.7 per cent.

Active listings stood at 21,817 at the end of the month, up almost 20 per cent from a year earlier.

Prices still holding, for now

Prices have not yet followed sales lower. QPAREB said the median price for a single-family home rose two per cent from October 2025, while median prices for condominiums and plexes were stable. The release did not publish dollar figures or percentage changes for those two categories in its text.

Supply grew in every category. Single-family inventory rose 22 per cent, condominium inventory 14 per cent and plex inventory 25 per cent in the release highlights. In a quote in the same release, QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant put the plex increase at 28 per cent, a discrepancy within the release that the association has not explained.

By region, listings were up 34 per cent in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, 30 per cent on the North Shore and 30 per cent on the South Shore, QPAREB said.

Condos on the Island remain the soft spot

QPAREB said conditions generally still favour sellers, with one exception: the condominium market on the Island of Montreal, where central areas continue to show a surplus of supply. Average selling times were 36 days for single-family homes, 46 days for plexes and 56 days for condominiums, which the board described as relatively short despite easing competition.

QPAREB economist Hélène Bégin said the sharp October decline is part of a downward trend that began early in the year. She said sales are shifting toward more affordable areas on the Island of Montreal and in Laval, as buyers adjust their choices to their financial means in a market where properties remain largely unaffordable.

Rates are the new pressure

Brant pointed to the recent rise in five-year fixed mortgage rates and the Bank of Canada’s policy rate increase in late October as factors that could reinforce the slowdown in coming months. As we reported on Nov. 3, the central bank raised its benchmark rate to 2.5 per cent. Brant said higher financing costs reduce investors’ borrowing capacity and could widen the gap between what plex sellers expect and what buyers can pay, and noted that plex median price growth has moderated since August.

He added that buyers in several markets are favouring more affordable areas rather than abandoning purchases altogether.

The Montreal slowdown follows the pattern in the country’s two largest markets. Toronto and Vancouver also posted lower October sales, with sellers pulling back faster than buyers.

Sources: QPAREB/APCIQ, “Montreal CMA: Sales Slowdown Persists” (Nov. 6, 2026), apciq.ca; The Canadian Press via CTV News (Nov. 6, 2026).