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A record summer for real estate and for DuProprio

Published on August 28, 2020

Most experts had predicted that things would get very busy this summer after weeks of lockdown in the spring that caused a standstill in the real estate market.

It certainly turned out to be a hot summer for the real estate industry, just as predicted. There were 37% more properties declared sold on DuProprio.com in June and July of 2020 than in the same period in 2019, and a record number of Quebec homeowners put their property on the market using our services.

Website flooded with buyers

“Visits to our website began exploding in May,” said Martin Desfossés, a real estate coach at DuProprio. “For us, it was the first sign that the real estate market was starting back up."

DuProprio.com had 8.8 million visits in June, a historic high that was repeated in July. This uptick held in August with more than 8.6 million visits.

Preference for a commission-free sale

To support the high demand for properties, homeowners also had to want to sell. Many embarked on the adventure, and showed a strong preference for selling commission-free.

While real estate brokers saw a 15%1 jump in the number of properties listed in June and July compared to the same period in 2019, DuProprio had a higher spike, at 22%.2

According to Martin Desfossés, “Quebeckers have just gone through a significant health and financial crisis. They tell us that saving on the commission has never been so important, because they are trying to manage their money carefully. That explains these excellent results.”

Bidding wars and shorter selling times

Many homeowners waited for lockdown to be lifted to list their property. Because demand is very high and the inventory is at its lowest level in years, the current market gives sellers a clear advantage.

The transactions for approximately 11%3 of the properties declared sold on DuProprio.com involved a bidding war, with a peak of 31%3 over the asking price on the island of Montréal, which is huge. Consequently, the median list price for single-family homes has gone up 2%4 in the province and properties listed on DuProprio.com are selling seven days faster.5

What to expect next? “DuProprio is not seeing any signs of the market slowing down,” Desfossés explained. “For the moment, everything indicates that things will continue as they are. While no one is immune to a new health or economic crisis, our team is preparing for a busy fall.”

1. QPAREB, June 1 to July 31, 2020. 2. DuProprio, June 1 to July 31, 2020. 3. DuProprio, May 1 to July 31, 2020. 4. JLR.ca real estate radar for July 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019. 5. DuProprio, May 1 to July 31, 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019.