The average price for a home in greater Montreal rose to $317,200 last month, a modest three per cent increase from the same time last year, according to figures released Tuesday.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says the sale of two-storey single family homes drove the 3.25 per cent year-over-year increase.

The increase is part of a trend — March sales were up from the previous month in more than half of all local markets across the country. The average price of a Canadian home rose to $548,517 last month.

The hotspots, predictably, were in the greater Vancouver and Toronto areas, with the average home prices in those cities reaching $919,300 and $772,500 in March, respectively.

(Roberto Rocha/CBC)

Quebec among healthiest real estate markets

According to Royal Lepage, in Quebec, the home price increase can be attributed to the province's improving economic fortunes.

Royal LePage released the results of its house price survey today, a separate set of figures which show that in the first quarter of 2017, the aggregate price of a home in the Greater Montreal Area rose 4.9 per cent to $367,702.

A falling unemployment rate, a projected provincial budget surplus of nearly $2.5 billion for 2017-2018 and "promised spending in large-scale public transit projects, health and education" have made Quebec an "economic shining star" in Canada, according to Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage.

"As a result, Montreal's residential real estate market is seeing strong house price vitality that is likely to grow over the coming year. The region is now one of the healthiest real estate markets in the country," he said in a news release.

According to Royal LePage's numbers, Montreal West witnessed the highest year-over-year increase, with the price of a home rising 6.8 per cent to $419,404.

Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke and Quebec City posted increases of 6.1 per cent, 5.1 per cent and 2.7 per cent to $208,154, $254,147 and $299,245, respectively.