Sanity check on Montreal this month: in the C$783,000–C$1,174,000 range, my sample of small multifamily listings is sitting at roughly 111 days to find a buyer. The main outliers seem connected to property tax, but I may be over-weighting listings that remain online. Do recent completed sales show the same slowdown, or is this mostly stale and withdrawn stock distorting the picture?
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Montreal small multifamily: is 111 days real or an active-listing distortion?
- Thread starter small_quill
- Start date
ezra_leases
Buyer
The 111-day figure is useful, but I wouldn’t read it as the normal time needed to secure a buyer. It is drawn from properties still competing for attention, so quicker transactions are missing and stale listings have more influence.
I’d use recent completed sales for typical marketing time, preserving the original list date and any reductions. If the question is what buyers can negotiate against today, keep the active sample instead and include withdrawn or relisted history. Those are two valid measures, but they answer different questions.
I’d use recent completed sales for typical marketing time, preserving the original list date and any reductions. If the question is what buyers can negotiate against today, keep the active sample instead and include withdrawn or relisted history. Those are two valid measures, but they answer different questions.
Separating completed sales is sensible, although I’m not sure listing status is the only distortion here. The neighbourhood grouping, unit mix and physical state could produce a 111-day average even when the underlying local markets are moving differently.
I’d divide the C$783,000–C$1,174,000 sample into smaller location and condition groups, then compare the long-running properties with genuinely similar completed deals. The apparent tax pattern may weaken if the higher-tax buildings are also the ones needing substantial work.
I’d divide the C$783,000–C$1,174,000 sample into smaller location and condition groups, then compare the long-running properties with genuinely similar completed deals. The apparent tax pattern may weaken if the higher-tax buildings are also the ones needing substantial work.
The boundary is probably part of my problem. I grouped several Montreal neighbourhoods to get a usable sample, and I haven’t yet separated renovated properties from those needing work. I’ll rebuild it using completed sales first, then add active and withdrawn listings as separate groups rather than blending everything into one 111-day figure.
I wouldn’t discard the 111 days entirely. It still describes what a buyer sees among the surviving inventory, which matters for negotiating. It just doesn’t answer the same question as completed-sale marketing time. One measures today’s available stock; the other is closer to how long properties that actually found buyers took to do so.
Also compare new-listing volume with completed and withdrawn properties over the same period. A rise in fresh supply can change the active sample quickly even if buyer demand has not moved much. Conversely, withdrawals can make the visible market look healthier by removing listings that failed to sell.
Buyer financing may be another dividing line. Small multifamily deals are not interchangeable merely because their asking prices fall in the same band. Income, expenses, condition and the buyer’s financing constraints can all affect whether a property moves quickly. I’d group similar buildings before concluding that property tax explains the outliers.
Seller motivation is harder to see in the data but may explain price-cut timing. A listing that sits for weeks before one meaningful reduction behaves differently from a correctly priced listing that sells promptly. Track days to first cut, days from cut to buyer, and whether the listing was later withdrawn or relisted.
The cleanest presentation would be two numbers, not one: marketing time for recent completed sales and current age of active inventory. Then add notes for relistings, condition and neighbourhood. If both measures are long, there is a stronger slowdown signal; if only active age is high, stale stock is probably carrying much of the 111-day result.