Article content

The 0.25 per cent increase in the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate, announced on Wednesday, is unlikely to slow gains in Montreal’s real-estate market, according to Paul Cardinal, the manager of Market Analysis for the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards.

“I think that our good fundamentals will offset the impact of a slight increase in interest rates,” he said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Interest-rate increase unlikely to slow Montreal's real-estate market: QFREB Back to video

So far this year, the Montreal region has added 32,000 jobs and, as of June, had the lowest unemployment rate it has seen since 2007.

It’s good news for the real-estate industry.

The number of homes sold in the Greater Montreal Region between April 1 and June 30 was up seven per cent, when compared with the year-earlier period, reaching 13,764 transactions, according to the QFREB.

Active listings, however, were down 17 per cent compared with 2016, helping to push up median prices.

The median price of a single family home sold in the region during the three-month period was up seven per cent from the year-earlier period, reaching $318,000. That’s up from a five-per-cent year-over-year increase during the previous quarter.

“We’re seeing a little acceleration in price increases in the Montreal area,” Cardinal said.

For condos, prices rose three per cent compared with last year to reach $245,084 during the quarter.