The QFREB’s First Trimester Analysis: a Rise in Sales of Plexes

According to the QFREB’s (Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards) analysis of the first trimester of 2016, the median price for a building of 2 to 5 units in Quebec is at $362,050. This represents a price increase of 6% compared to the same period last year.

The number of sales, meanwhile, jumped 16%. It increased in the six metropolitan areas of the province, most notably in Gatineau (46%) and Trois-Rivieres (33%). Montreal and Quebec both experienced an increase of 20%, while Sherbrooke and Saguenay saw a growth of 15% and 7% respectively. This data must however be put in perspective; recent years having been particularly difficult in terms of residential sales, it is more appropriate to label this phenomenon as a rise in sales rather than a significant increase.

In Montreal, the median price for the acquisition of a plex is $455,000, which represents a 5% increase compared to the same time last year. Fewer than 958 properties changed ownership during the year’s first trimester.

54 transactions were completed in Gatineau with a median price of $281,000, which represents an increase of 17%.

Property owners paid a median price that was 5% higher than last year’s in Quebec, which comes to $302,500, for the 133 plexes sold.

In Sherbrooke, the price is rather situated at $206,000, representing a decrease of 10% over last year. 47 properties were sold there.

As for Trois-Rivieres, 44 property sales were registered, with a median price of $137,250. It is a decrease of 11% compared to 2015.

It is however in Saguenay where transactions were the least prevalent, with only 32 sales to a median price of $175,875, which constitutes a decrease of 5%.

Finally, a very considerable increase in rental property projects is observed throughout the province, reaching 108%.