1st Quarter 2022 Real Estate Stats: Full Speed Ahead Before a Slowdown?
Published on May 20, 2022
Last year’s trends continued during the 1st quarter of 2022, with a marked increase in property prices, the fastest selling times yet, and a still small inventory.
In the first few months of the year, several actions were also taken to contain the market frenzy and inflation, and to help first-time homeowners: an increase in the key interest rate, the unveiling of the CELIAPP program, and more. There’s so much information going around that it may be difficult to make sense of it all and find answers. The Real Estate Minute takes stock of the market in Quebec and analyzes the statistics for the 1st quarter of 2022.
Contents:
- State of the real estate market at the end of 2021
- Still low inventory
- Sustained growth in selling prices
- Selling times: Déjà vu
- Hike in overbidding
- Zoom in on the hottest markets
- In the crystal ball: Trend analysis
State of the real estate market at the end of 2021
To put the present in context, it’s important to recall the past. Let’s take a quick look back at the stats from the end of last year.
Property inventory: The 4th quarter of 2021 showed a new decrease in the number of residences for sale on the market: a 22.2% drop from the same time in 2020.
Demand from buyers: The year 2021 was marked by a declining inventory that couldn’t keep up with the high demand from people looking for a property.
Selling price: According to the JLR Real Estate Radar, the median price of single-family homes in Quebec continued to increase, reaching $340,000 in the final months of 2021—a 15.3% increase over the same period in 2020. In Montréal, the median price for single-family homes was $500,000.2
Overbidding: Nearly one-third of the clients in DuProprio’s database reported selling their property for more than the last price listed on DuProprio.com.
Selling times: Average selling times were dropping in the 4th quarter of 2021. On average, it was taking 55 days to find a buyer for a property in Quebec, which was 31 days fewer than in 2020.3
See the first article of The Real Estate Minute for a complete picture of the 2021 market, and more specifically, the final quarter of the year.
Still low inventory
Properties for sale in Quebec continued to be scarce at the start of 2022. About 6,000 fewer properties were put up for sale in the 1st quarter, compared to the same quarter in 2021.4 This reduction in the number of new listings can be explained by the market’s momentum, which reached new heights in the 1st quarter of 2022. The main cause of this is the glaring lack of inventory: 28% lower than at the same time in 2021. This market imbalance has dampened the enthusiasm of homeowners wanting to sell their property because they fear being unable to find a new place to live.
Sustained growth in selling prices
The lower inventory has led to a decrease in the number of real estate property transfers, which settled at -17% than in the 1st quarter of 2021. While the land registry recorded 30,223 residential transactions from January to March 2021, there were only 24,950 sales6 recorded in the first months of 2022.
As a result, selling prices ballooned even more. With single-family homes, we saw a 21% increase provincially, while condos and multiplexes rose 19% on average, relative to the median price for the same period in 2021.7 These variations, compiled by the JLR Real Estate Radar, put the median price of single-family homes at $365,000, condos at $355,465 and multiplexes of all sizes at $450,000 during the 1st quarter of the year.8
And the award for highest increase goes to...
The Sherbrooke metropolitan region! According to the JLR Real Estate Radar, the median price in Sherbrooke’s condo market this year so far is 48% higher than in the 1st quarter of 2021! Second and third place go to the Gatineau condo market (+36%) and the single-family home market in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and area (+32%), both of which saw a significant boom early this year.9
Selling times: Déjà vu
In January to March of this year, selling times bounced back to the quickest rates of last year. In the 1st quarter of 2022, the average selling time for single-family homes dropped 67 days, down to only 48 days.10 Condos also sold fast: Quebec owners reported needing only 51 days to finalize a sale.11 As for buildings with multiple units, province-wide, they sold 8 days faster than in 2021’s 1st quarter, for an average duration of 70 days on the market.12
The biggest difference between January–March in 2021 and in 2022 was for single-family properties in the Sept-Îles region, which, on average, sold 60 days faster this year.13 Victoriaville also gets a special mention: the high buyer demand decreased condo selling times, to 45 days fewer than in the same period last year.14
Hike in overbidding
Even though overbidding became a familiar situation in 2020 and 2021, the phenomenon scaled up even more at the start of 2022 in Quebec. For more than 2 in 5 DuProprio clients, buyers offered a price higher than the last asking price listed.15 Comparatively, only one-third of owners who sold with the help of DuProprio in 2021 received bids over asking.16
Choosing to put a property up for sale ended up paying off for the 41% of homeowners who got bids above asking between January and March 2022: the average selling price was 6.1% higher than the last price posted on DuProprio.com.17
Selling above asking without an intermediary: Possible?
Yes! DuProprio’s clients have proven it time and time again! The key to success? Being prepared, negotiating and picking the offer you like best. DuProprio offers all the support you need to sell successfully in a booming market. Having access to the support of real estate coaches lets buyers determine the best pricing strategy for their goals, while access to telephone assistance from notaries18 lets them get advice for managing multiple offers. See our packages.
Zoom in on the hottest markets
The attraction for suburban areas continued in the early part of the year, despite the gradual return to in-person work in many of Quebec’s larger cities. Here’s an overview of the situation, compared to the 1st quarter of 2021, according to the JLR Real Estate Radar and to DuProprio statistics.
Gatineau: The price increase capital
The Gatineau census metropolitan area, in the Outaouais region, recorded the highest price increase to date this year. The overheated market in the city and its surrounding area made the price of condos climb 36%, single-family homes 30% and multi-unit dwellings 29%, relative to the 1st quarter of 2021.19 It’s not surprising therefore that 52% of DuProprio clients in the Gatineau area reported selling above asking.20
Montréal: The most expensive
It’s no surprise that the Montréal metropolitan region is still where we find the most expensive median price for single-family homes, reaching $520,000 in the 1st quarter of 2022, according to the numbers of JLR Land Title Solutions. This is a 22% increase over the median selling price for January–March 2021. Condos and multiplexes stayed in step, experiencing a 17% increase and reaching $385,000 and $700,000, respectively.21.
Buyers’ continued enthusiasm for moving out of cities profited the areas outlying the Island of Montréal. There, average selling times decreased even further, hitting a mere 31 days for single-family homes on the South Shore, North Shore and in Vaudreuil-Soulanges.22 The overbidding phenomenon also affected the inner and outer suburbs, particularly Laval, the cities of the North and South Shores and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which all had overbidding rates of over 50% for DuProprio clients.23
Saguenay: The underdog
The real estate market in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean has long been a buyer’s market, but this changed recently. The area’s growing popularity was felt in the 1st quarter for all property types. The median price for single-family homes and multiplexes continued to grow, with increases of 8% and 6%, respectively.24 Though the region has a more limited portfolio of condos, the popularity of that market segment is growing—the median price ballooned 24% from January to March 2022.25
Trois-Rivières: Overbidding champion
It was in this Mauricie municipality and its suburbs that the highest overbidding was experienced by DuProprio clients in the 1st quarter: 56% reported selling for more than the last price listed!26 These sales are happening fast and at high prices: 29 days faster in the areas outlying Trois-Rivières than in the 1st quarter of 2021,27 and prices 25% higher on average for single-family homes and condos.28
Québec City: Vibrant
The population of the Capitale-Nationale region enjoyed a seller’s market, which helped 35% of DuProprio’s clients there to sell above the last asking price listed on the site, during the 1st quarter of 2022.29 Shorter selling times—22 days fewer for single-family homes, 17 fewer for condos and 4 fewer for multiplexes—showed buyers’ interest in that area, especially on the city’s South Shore and in the northern suburbs.30
Sherbrooke: Superheated
In Sherbrooke, in the Estrie region, an overheated real estate market benefited condo owners, who sold for a median price that was 48% more than in the 1st quarter of 2021.31 As for single-family properties and multiplexes, a 19% increase was seen for that period.32 Selling times shortened for these two types of real estate in the region, but especially so for multi-dwelling properties, which sold 39 days faster, on average.33
A few other large municipalities and their surrounding areas stood out, showing significant increases in the median price of single-family homes: Granby (+31%), Shawinigan (+30%) and Sorel-Tracy (+30 %).34 Good news for homeowners in those areas!
In the crystal ball: Trend analysis
Since the start of the pandemic, the market has changed, becoming more advantageous for sellers. The demand from buyers has been consistent since 2020, but so has the decreasing number of properties on offer. Though the inventory remains very low, we have seen a consistency in the number of properties being put up for sale on the major real estate platforms in the last four months. In other words, the property offering has stabilized.
If these market conditions continue, and factoring in the hike in mortgage rates triggered by recent (and most likely future) adjustments of the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate, the next few months could be indicative of how the rest of 2022 will play out. We could also see the rise in selling prices—currently at its highest in the last two years—start to slow down.
Selling from a position of strength
Despite these trends that seem to be emerging, it’s impossible to predict the future. However, if you want to take advantage of a market that is still very beneficial for sellers, this is the right time to list your property.
DuProprio’s team and its support and visibility tools will help you sell your property at your own pace and without having to pay a commission. Learn more about our services by talking to one of our advisors at 1-866-387-7677, or watch our webinar from the comfort of your own home.
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