Montreal City Weblog

Kate 08:17 on 2020-09-05 Permalink Reply  

• CharlesQ 09:27 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  One thing that makes me want to flee the city is the recent La Presse poll that gives an advantage to Coderre even though he’s not running. I take it with a grain of salt though since La Presse has always been all in for Coderre even if he wasted tens of millions of dollars and named Rozon as the “commissaire aux célébrations du 375e” (and Rozon was also a fundraiser for Coderre, not that I think Coderre is guilty by association by it was not secret Rozon was a serial abuser)…

• Kate 10:34 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  I’ve just made a link to the poll. Eurgh.

• walkerp 10:50 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  So if people are fleeing to the country, wouldn`t that then create a drop in housing prices on the island of Montreal? Is it just that demand is so high still it can absorb more houses on the market? Or are the people leaving wealthy enough to keep their city place and buy a country place?

  What if office buildings downtown were turned into weird future residence blocks, since all office jobs will be done from home in the future?

• DeWolf 11:08 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  People may be leaving for the countryside it seems there are plenty of others that are eager to take their place in the city. Back in July the Gazette reported that analysts were predicting a decline in home prices due to the pandemic, but instead they have gone up by 3.5 percent since April and 7.7 percent since last year. They are still predicting a “slight softening of demand” by 2021 – but we’re living in an upside down world so who knows.

• Kevin 16:08 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  walkerp
  Moshe Lander is predicting just that IF cities rezone buildings.

  I think this year we have seen two things: the first is the pent-up demand from people who had preapproved mortgages during a time when nothing was on sale; The second is a rush for larger homes because people expect that working from home will be a constant.

  Oh, and some wags say that we’ve seen the last ever snow day

• walkerp 16:15 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  Thanks for those answers. Helpful!
  Distressing because it seems like underlying these phenomena are the increasing disparities of income. Those who can afford, get more real estate, squeezing out those who can’t.

• Michael Black 16:46 on 2020-09-05 Permalink

  The neighbor has bought another house on the street, about six houses up on the other side of the street.

  He only moved in about 7 years ago, after a long renovation. But working at home, with kids who had previously lived elsewhere, a house that had been fine is now cramped. He likes the neighborhood, and the new house is bigger. Presumably the current house will be sold.

  But no move till next spring apparently. One can hope just in time for a vaccine.

  I’m imaging them walking the contents up the street, rather than a moving van.

• david27 00:26 on 2020-09-06 Permalink

  We know that interest rates, lockdown-created pent up demand, the drop in the USD and overvalued equities markets (stoking demand for a safe harbor), nutso money printing combined with massive savings reserves globally, open immigration for anyone with a college degree in STEM and the ability to speak an official language, temporary covid-induced preferences and/or speculation on said, tax incentives, and – especially – the Canadians’ own sense that real estate is an eternal safe harbor asset class when the world is chaotic . . . all of these are working at the same time, to varying degrees in buyers, depending on their positions.

  And, of course, the artificially imposed supply constraints on housing (zoning) and the exogenous shock to what little supply was coming online (work stoppages) have limited supply all over.

  Overall, there’s this narrative that everyone is moving to the suburbs and leaving the city, but the prices don’t reflect that at all. Real estate is up across the board, it’s just up a bit more in the suburbs and exurbs and provinces.

• Kate 09:17 on 2020-09-06 Permalink

  I think it’s also that people may be rethinking their living spaces in view of possibly working at home indefinitely. If a couple are both working from home, and there’s kids, you might well feel like you need a little more room, especially if one or both of you does a lot of Zoom meetings.

  For myself, I’m glad I had the foresight to rent a place with a little yard. It’s really been a sanity-saver this summer.

• david27 13:37 on 2020-09-06 Permalink

  This is definitely happening, and I’d consider it just one of the temporary covid-induced preferences and/or speculation on said. You have the sense of being crowded, more noise from unemployed neighbors, desire for a desire for a yard and/or other space for kids, a garage/car port for a car, all sorts — and the added annoyance level that everyone is running just amplifies the dissatisfaction. But remember that real estate is going up everywhere – on the Plateau, in Maisonneuve, in Ahuntsic, west island, off island, in the Mauricie, everywhere. Condo sales are booming.

  In addition to all the various factors financial, cultural, experiential and other pressures (immigration, the housing supply shortage, etc) that are contributing to this boom, a key covid one is that people are sick of the spaces they call home. Even if they’re moving to another apartment of the same size, they want that change. They want something that reflects their preferences more, they want something different.