Montréal Real Estate Market Continues to Favour Sellers

According to the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board’s MLS® system, there were 36,955 transactions from last year until now.  4% less sales compared to last year.

In terms of property prices in the Metropolitan Area of Montréal, the median prices of single-family homes and plexes increased by 6% compared to the same period last year, condominium prices increased by 3%.

Compared to the first 10 months of 2007, condo sales grew by 5% in the Montréal Metropolitan Area. On the other hand, sales of single-family homes decreased by 7%, and plex sales decreased by 5%.

“The median price of a single-family home grew last month by 4 per cent, increasing from $220,000 in October 2007 to $228,000 in October 2008. The plex market retained a stable median price at $329,250, while that of condominiums fell slightly by 1 per cent. This decrease can be explained by the minor decline in median prices of condominiums on the Island of Montréal, the largest condominium market.
October’s resale market continues to favour sellers, despite a 9 per cent increase in the number of active listings in the MLS® system.”
Source: Montreal Real Estate Board

What Undivided Co-ownership means

In your search for condos, you might have come across the term Co-propriété Indivise, or Undivided Co-ownership. In other provinces are referred to Co-op, but not here in Quebec. In this province, co-op means Housing Cooperatives; used for regulating housing fees and expenses, mostly rental properties. Since we are talking about purchasing real estate here, let’s stick with the two terminologies: Undivided co-ownership or Co-propriété Indivise.

What is Undivided Co-ownership?

According to La chambre de Notaires du Quebec:

A property of this type belongs to several individuals, called undivided co-owners. No one owner owns an exclusive portion of the property; rather, they each own a fraction.
For example, you buy a triplex with two of your friends and you all contribute equally to the sale price. After the sale, you decide to move into the second-floor apartment. The apartment does not belong to you exclusively; your two friends share its ownership with you, just as you share the ownership of their dwellings on the first and third floors. You and your friends are undivided co-owners of the whole triplex. In the example above, your shares in the immovable are one third each.

In a nutshell: When you buy into an undivided co-ownership you are acquiring shares into the ownership of the building, as an undivided co-owner.

Condominiums are divided by cadastral numbers, each unit has their own, sort of like a serial number for properties. When buying into a condominium, you are buying real estate property. While with undivided, the building has only one cadastral number (wheather it has 40 units or 2), and the undivided owners share the title of ownership to the whole building, with the exclusive rights to the units dictated on the indivision agreement.

In terms of property prices, we cannot say that condos are more expensive than undivided co-ownerships. The search results of condos sold in Plateau (2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 800-1000 sq ft) in the last six months gives us a median of $250,500. While with the same criteria, the undivided shows a median price of $244,000.

Undivided units are in buildings of different styles, sizes and in every type of neighborhood. We’ve noticed a great number of these properties popping up in Plateau, Downtown, NDG and Côte-des-Neiges. Also Westmount, Villeray and Rosemont are following up in listing numbers.

In a future article, we’ll write about Financing and shared costs of these types of properties. Stay tuned!

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333 Sherbrooke Phase II: Delivery date?

If there’s a project we’ve been waiting to see finished it’s definitely the 333 Sherbrooke E.

Winter time was a busy one for the construction crew, although the main structure was there from last year, the front was mainly put together in a few months: balconies, façade, windows…
Then, it seems the progress just stopped.

I read on their website that the expected delivery date was for “Beginning of Fall 2008″, but this doesn’t really look close to completion.

Real Estate Glossary: Y

Year-End Statement
A mortgage summary or report that is sent to the borrower at the end of each year. The statement shows the amount of taxes and interest paid on the mortgage during the year, as well as the remaining loan balance.

Year-To-Year Tenancy
A periodic tenancy in which the rent is reserved from year to year.

Yield to Maturity (YTM)
The internal rate of return on an investment. The YTM generally considers all investment returns and the timing of each return.

Real Estate Glossary: W

Waiver
The deliberate and voluntary relinquishment or surrender of a claim, right, or privilege.

Walk-through
The buyer’s final inspection of a property which is being purchased is called a walk-through. This final inspectiongenerally takes place on the day of closing or one day prior to ensure all the conditions of the sale have been met.

Warranty
In real estate, warranty refers a document certifying clear title a property.

Witness
An individual who signs his or her name to a document for the purpose of attesting to its authenticity. For example, a witness is usually required to sign a deed, will or other legal document.

Workout
A type of mortgage where basic terms such as interest rate, term, and monthly payment are altered to prevent foreclosure. This is not a typical practice in Canada.

Wraparound Mortgage- [Updated]
A form of secondary financing in which a seller extends to a purchaser a junior mortgage which wraps around and exists in addition to one or more superior mortgages. Under a wrap, a seller accepts a promissory notefrom the buyer for the amount due on the underlying mortgage plus an amount up to the remaining purchase money balance.  {source: Wikipedia}

The Mount Royal Cross gets a pricey make-over

Photo: HalfandHeart

According to CBC News, the Mount Royal cross will be turned off Friday - I’m guessing today- to have some renovations done:
Paint, change to polychromatic bulbs (funky, we like), the cost for this make over is expected to be $982,138. Not sure if this was a typo, maybe the meant $9,821.38. or maybe 98,000? Because the six figure total seems like an incredibly high price to pay for a change of bulbs and a fresh coat of paint, even if the cross is 31 meters long.

“Montreal’s landmark electric cross on Mount Royal will be turned off Friday to allow for renovations.
The 83-year-old cross will be repainted and outfitted with a new energy-efficient lighting system, which will include polychromatic bulbs to allow a greater variety of colours.
Makeover costs are expected to total $982,138, Plateau Mont Royal borough Mayor Helen Fotopoulos said.
The 31.4-metre cross was installed in 1924 and normally glows white, but turns purple as a sign of mourning when the pope dies.”

Makes you wonder…How much are they paying for those bulbs?

Builders and Land Developers facing challenges right now

With financial markets roiling, oil and gas prices gyrating and the extent of the fallout in the Canadian real estate market uncertain, many current and aspiring homeowners seem content to stand still and wait out the turmoil.

Home builders don’t have that option.

“This whole industry is a big ship and it doesn’t turn on a dime,” says Niall Haggart, vice-president at Daniels Corp.

Builders and land developers face a battalion of challenges right now: Spillover from the collapse of the U.S. housing market is starting to drag down real estate sales and prices in Canada but no one can predict how long or steep the slide will be.

In Ontario, the government’s official plan to curb urban sprawl is making land available for building scarce and therefore more expensive, developers complain.

At the same time, higher materials costs for builders are also pushing up the cost of even a modest townhouse in the suburbs out of the reach of first-time buyers.

Meanwhile, immigration brings potential new buyers into the housing market just as the looming retirement dates of baby boomers could lead to a wave of downsizing.

Builders buy land several years before they ever have a house or condominium unit ready for a buyer. Many are trying to adjust to the shifting landscape and predict where the market will be a few years out.

Read the complete article

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East End Chronicles: Homes for sale by the Golf Course (Pointe-aux-Trembles)

The construction stopped but still there is a chance to get your hands on a property by the Golf Course. That’s right, there are two homes left for sale at the Pointe-aux-Trembles Golf Course Project.

You didn’t know there was a Golf Course up there? Well there is. The East end its not just about refineries and industrial space, you know. They have detached homes (and semi detached in the case), backyards facing parks and golf courses!!

The specs:

Asking Price: $247,882 + GST/QST
Property Type : Two or more storey semi detached
Bedrooms : 2
Bathrooms : 1
Interior Floor Space : 1200 sqft
Built in : 2007
Location : Pointe-aux-Trembles (East Montréal)
Available: Immediately
Listing Agent: Sheila Iacono!

Want a property by the Golf Course. You know what to do now folks, contact Sheila for more info.
And if it’s already sold by then, don’t worry, they still have another one just like it.

For more articles on homes for sale, join the Montreal Real Estate Blog

Canadian Market News: Credit Crunch & Stock Market Effects

• Canadians ’should not be too worried’ - [Financial Post]
  Wall Street may be imploding while financial markets around the world are in retreat, but as far as most Canadians are concerned, it’s business as usual.
  (…) Canadians need to be cautious in making financial decisions in the months ahead as the economic environment becomes more challenging. For instance, they should be aware that credit conditions could get tighter as the banking system responds to the global credit crunch.
• Credit crisis pushing up vacancy rates (Toronto) - [The Star]
  It’s going to be a “bumpy road ahead” for the Greater Toronto office market, according to sober forecasts released yesterday by leading Canadian brokerage firms.
  The office market is expected to see slower than average growth over the remaining half of the year as the finance, insurance, real estate and commercial services sectors digest the Wall Street implosion, caused by the weakening economy and the failure of the U.S. investment banking sector, says a Colliers International study.
• Montreal housing advocates rally for federal funding program [CBC News]
  About 100 people rallied in downtown Montreal on Thursday to protest planned cuts to federal funding of homeless support programs.
  Advocates against homelessness, joined by federal candidates, gathered in front of the Guy-Favreau federal government building on René-Lévesque Blvd. for the protest.
• Canada’s boom in the housing markets is definitely over - [The Star]
  Canadian existing home housing prices are decelerating quickly with the steepest decline in more than a decade recorded in August, as analysts say homeowners in some cities should prepare for further depreciation

Tuesday Morning: Housing Market and Subprime on the news

Good morning, Montreal.
Here is a list of Real Estate market, subprime mortgage and Commercial Real Estate investment news.

• Soft landing predicted for real estate [Montreal Gazette]
  Economists say they’re expecting a soft landing for the Canadian real estate market despite a new study that concludes house prices in Montreal and other major Canadian cities are overvalued by as much as 25 per cent.
• Housing market rebounds, Ontario leads way [Reuters.ca]
  Housing starts rebounded in August, beating expectations, but some economists cautioned against reading too much into the number since it followed a weak reading in July.
• CIBC chief says corner being turned on subprime [Calgary Herald]
  The top executive at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce shied away from predicting when the bank would stop taking structured-credit charges, but he hinted the worst of its subprime mortgage troubles could be over.
• CREIT Buys 8 Canadian Tire Properties for $137M [Commercial Property News]
  Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (CREIT) has acquired a portfolio of eight retail properties from Canadian Tire for C$137.3 million. Canadian Tire has leased each of the eight properties back under 15-year triple-net leases at current market rental rates, with escalating contractual rents over the term. The properties have all been either significantly renovated or expanded within three years by Canadian Tire.

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