Real estate market in island slowing down

In 2008, 335 properties were sold in L'Île-des-Sœurs compared to 393 sales in the preceding year. This was confirmed by Chantal De Repentigny of the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards.

With respect to CMHC’s figures for construction starts, there were 709 in 2007 against only 62 in 2008. Note that the abrupt slowdown occurred beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007, particularly for condominiums and rental and cooperative corporation properties.

The one good news in 2008 is that the number of construction starts has tripled compared to 2007, going from 14 to 46 for absolute ownership properties (the tenants are owners but this type of dwelling is not a condo).

A total of 537 construction starts was recorded in the third quarter of 2007, of which 340 were for rental and cooperative corporations and 189 for condos. The preceding quarter also reported 160 condo construction starts.

Although the statistics point to slower sales and fewer construction starts on the island, the two organisations have not released figures for 2009. On the other hand, Quebec statistics on foreclosures indicate that 2,354 properties were seized in 2008 as opposed to 1,694 in 2007, a 39% increase primarily due to too much debt.