October 11, 2017 - Condo fever has truly resumed in downtown Montreal. Several major projects are planned, including the Tour des Canadiens (Phase III), near the Bell Center.
Another sign of the bullish business climate in the borough, Broccolini announced last week, the construction of a 150 million project. The 628 Saint-Jacques, in the heart of Square Victoria. It will include 251 condominium units on 35 floors. Several other projects will soon be announced, as the lull observed over the last two years seems to be a thing of the past.
The number of (available) condos has withered downtown. In 2012, there were about 2000 unsold units, against 200 in 2017. "During the year, the inventory of units built and unsold has been absorbed," as established by Maxime Hamel , market research specialist at Groupe Altus, a real estate consulting firm after carrying out a field study.
Three times as many units
The number of units announced since the beginning of the year has actually tripled. Developers have marketed 1370 units’ downtown in the first half of 2017, compared to 525 units in the first half of 2016, based on Altus data.
After the downtown condo boom in 2014, housing starts dropped in 2015 and then picked up again in 2016 and 2017, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation statistics (CMHC). Quebec will see an increase in housing starts in 2017, thanks to the contribution of rental apartments, concludes CMHC.
Montreal, October 11, 2017
Source : La Presse et la Presse canadienne
