Quebec
Montreal Quebec – Has Montreal’s condo boom peaked ?
The city has benefitted from investment dollars moving away from BC and Ontario with its foreign investor tax to cool its residential real estate market. BC has a 20 % tax on foreign investors, and Ontario 15 %. The City of Vancouver has a Vacancy tax on dwellings remaining unoccupied for 6 months or more.
Montreal is in the throes of a tall condo boom that has transformed its skyline. In 2017 it was the most sought city for Chinese investors at 20 % non-resident buyers and 30 % in 2018. Prices in downtown Ville Marie borough jumped 14 % by the third quarter of 2018 to $ 474,000 according to the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board, in comparison to 5 % increase to $ 312,000 across the Montreal CMA.
A separate CMHC study in December 2018 showed that 57% of owners in large Hi-rise condominium towers in downtown Montreal are investors. 75% percent had a negative cash flow of $ 385 per month after collecting monthly rents.
Mayor Valerie Plante is planning to ask the Provincial Government for power to slap on foreign buyers tax on properties in the city, which may spell an end to the Condo boom ( Globe & Mail December 12th, 2018 )
MONTREAL THE BASTION OF STABILITY IN CANADA?
According to CBRE Capital Markets, Montreal’s commercial and real estate markets never reached the boiling point so evident in the rest of Canada and around the world.
