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Those robust housing returns have fuelled a sense of optimism, with some industry watchers in Quebec eager to proclaim that the housing market is on fire.

The newfound exuberance has also raised concerns about possible government intervention, like the foreign homebuyers’ taxes in Toronto and Vancouver, to guard against the housing price inflation in the future.

Already Valérie Plante, Montreal’s newly elected mayor, has broached the subject with Quebec’s minister of municipal affairs.

There are, however, a number of reasons to be skeptical that Montreal is indeed headed down the path of extreme housing price growth that has gripped the Vancouver and Toronto markets.

Modest gains

One reason that fears of price inflation are largely exaggerated is because Montreal’s gains so far have been relatively modest, and come after decades of muted growth.

Concern about the influence of foreign buyers also appears to be exaggerated, despite stronger sales in the high-end market.

In 2017, sales of homes over a million dollars were up by 20 per cent, and condominiums over half a million dollars reported a 42 per cent increase.

While the share of non-resident owned properties increased significantly from the level in 2016, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the difference in asking and sold prices were the same for foreign and domestic owners in Montreal, suggesting their impact on prices overall were not as great.