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In Montreal non–permanent residents held the smallest proportion of mortgages at 1.9 per cent, up from 1.6 per cent in 2014.

The study — which defined non-permanent residents as international students, foreign workers, in-land refugee claimants and others – found the proportion of mortgages held by non–residents also increased between 2014 and 2016.

The new data comes as Montreal home sales continued a torrid pace of growth in January while Toronto’s housing market slumped.

The total number homes sold in the Greater Montreal Area rose 13 per cent compared to a year ago as the inventory of active listings shrank by 14 per cent, according to the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board (GMREB).

The squeeze on supply pushed prices higher with the average home price in Montreal rising 8 per cent to $371,061. Single-family homes fuelled the bulk of that increase, as prices climbed 9 per cent to $375,940. The average price of condominiums edged up 2 per cent to $294,513.

“There are fewer and fewer properties for sale in the Montreal area and demand remains strong,” said Mathieu Cousineau, president of GMREB’s board of directors. “As a result, the resale market is, generally speaking, more advantageous for sellers.”

Toronto’s market swung to a different extreme during the month, as home sales plunged 22 per cent compared to a record month the year before and new listings swelled 17.4 per cent.

As the supply of available properties climbed in the Greater Toronto Area during the month, the average sales price for homes slid to $736,783, a 4.1 per cent decline. Most of those losses were on the back of detached home prices, which fell by 3.9 per cent to $1,283,981 in the city of Toronto. Prices for detached homes in the surrounding 905 region fell 12 per cent to $879,048.