09/21/2026
🏠 Montreal & North Shore Real Estate Brief
Monday, September 21, 2026 | 5-minute read
This week’s most useful message: the market is becoming more balanced without a broad price collapse. Resale inventory is substantially higher, buyers can negotiate again, and Montreal condo conditions have softened the most. At the same time, new construction in Montreal accelerated in August, so sellers—particularly condo sellers—should expect competition to remain elevated.
Residential — buyers have choices again
The latest completed resale month remains August. Across the Montreal CMA, there were 2,853 residential sales, down 13% year over year, while active listings climbed 18% to 20,128.
That gap remains the number I would build seller conversations around:
Sales: -13%
Inventory: +18%
Yet prices have largely held. This is much more accurately described as a rebalancing of negotiating power than a housing correction.
The condo segment is the clearest example. QPAREB now characterizes the Montreal CMA condominium market as essentially balanced, while single-family homes and plexes remain comparatively stronger.
For Laval and the North Shore, I’d continue pricing at the municipality and property-type level rather than applying a Montreal-wide percentage. The North Shore’s recent sharp inventory increase means that a renovated Blainville house, a Rosemère waterfront condo and a Boisbriand townhouse can now behave very differently despite being geographically close.
🏗️ The genuinely new residential development this week
CMHC's August construction data, released September 16, contain an important Montreal signal.
The six-month trend in Montreal housing starts increased 6% from July to August, with increases across property types. Quebec’s overall housing-start trend also edged up 1%, driven by multi-unit construction.
That’s good news for long-term supply—but there’s a sales implication.
More new apartments and condos eventually mean more competition for existing inventory, particularly ordinary condo units that lack parking, views, strong amenities or superior locations.
Condo seller line: “You’re no longer competing only against the condo down the hall. You’re competing against growing resale inventory and new construction. We need to make the value proposition obvious.”
For developers and landowners in Laval, North Shore, Laurentians and Lanaudière, servicing remains critical. Québec’s latest FIERH funding round for municipal water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure closed September 18; the program is specifically designed to unlock housing construction where infrastructure is the bottleneck.
💰 Financing — still no reason to promise buyers a rate cut
The Bank of Canada policy rate remains 2.25%, unchanged since October 2025. The Bank held again on September 2.
As of the latest September 16 weekly data, major-bank prime remains 4.45%. Posted conventional mortgage rates remain 5.49% for one year, 6.05% for three years and 6.09% for five years; actual negotiated mortgage rates can of course be materially lower.
There’s an important event today, September 21: Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem is scheduled to speak in Halifax. I’d watch the language around inflation, tariffs and the path for rates rather than speculate before the speech occurs.
🏢 Commercial — capital is returning, but not to everything
One of the strongest recent commercial signals is Greater Montreal investment volume.
The latest Altus Group Montreal commercial update reports $5.7 billion of commercial investment during the first half of 2026, up 38% year over year.
Office transactions reached roughly $720 million—up 149% from the depressed prior-year period.
But this isn’t an indiscriminate office comeback.
Investors are concentrating on Class A properties and buildings with credible repositioning potential. Altus puts Montreal office availability at 16.4%, down 130 basis points, while Class A availability has fallen to 14.7%. Older Class B/C assets continue to face much greater pressure.
One transaction captures the divide perfectly: the approximately 570,000-sq.-ft. Place du Parc complex traded for $48 million, around $85/sq. ft. and roughly 30% below municipal assessment, while carrying approximately 40% vacancy.
Commercial seller line: “Money is coming back into Montreal real estate—but investors are paying for quality, income and upside. A municipal assessment isn’t a valuation strategy.”
🏭 Industrial — especially relevant to Laval
Greater Montreal industrial is more balanced than during the post-COVID shortage.
The latest Colliers figures show 5.7% vacancy, more than 880,000 sq. ft. of positive Q2 absorption, and average asking net rent easing to approximately $13.94/sq. ft. New Q2 supply totaled 573,000 sq. ft., partly from speculative projects in Laval and Montreal’s East End.
For a Laval/North Shore industrial owner, that’s a very practical message:
Tenants have alternatives again.
Long-vacant or older properties need realistic rents and terms. For tenants approaching renewal, however, this is an excellent time to compare alternatives and negotiate before the market potentially tightens again.
🌊 Regulation — October 1 is approaching
This one is especially relevant for waterfront prospecting.
Québec’s modernized flood-zone regulatory regime has been effective since March 1, 2026, affecting work and development in flood zones, shorelines and other water environments. Property owners are specifically directed to verify applicable rules with their municipality before undertaking work.
But here’s the upcoming date worth remembering:
October 1, 2026.
Québec’s Rénoclimat–Adaptation program is scheduled to begin providing financial assistance to homeowners for work intended to make residences more resilient to flooding.
Québec flood-adaptation assistance
That’s potentially useful when talking to owners around Rosemère, waterfront Laval, Rivière des Prairies and waterfront pockets of Lanaudière and the Laurentians.
🎯 Three calls I’d make this week
North Shore seller: “The important change isn’t that prices suddenly collapsed—they haven’t. It’s that buyers have substantially more inventory to choose from. If you’re thinking about selling this fall or next spring, let’s establish your position against today’s competition now.”
Condo owner: “The Montreal condo market has moved into balanced territory, and construction activity picked up again in August. This is becoming a market where exceptional units separate themselves from average ones. Let me show you where yours sits.”
Commercial owner/investor: “Commercial investment in Greater Montreal is up 38% this year, but buyers are extremely selective. If you’re considering selling or refinancing, let’s determine how investors would actually underwrite the property today rather than relying on municipal assessment.”
🔑 Number of the week: +6%
That’s the month-to-month increase in Montreal’s six-month housing-start trend in August.
Last week’s story was rising resale inventory.
This week’s additional story is that the construction pipeline is moving too.
For sellers, that means competition is unlikely to disappear simply because we move into fall. For buyers, it means patience and negotiation are increasingly possible. And for brokers, the market continues moving toward one where accurate valuation and property-specific strategy matter more than broad “the market is up” statistics.
