More Rich People Are Moving To Montreal Than Ever Before

And they're buying up all the good houses.

The rich are flocking to Montreal, mainly to snatch up affordable luxury real estate.

Okay, so “affordable” and “luxury real estate” are a bit antithetical, but Montreal experienced an uptick of sales for homes worth over $1 million in the last couple of months.

And it may be because Montreal’s luxury housing market actually gives buyers more bang for they buck.

Between July and August, the sale of luxury homes in Montreal increased by a whopping 60% compared to last year. There were 115 different purchase of homes over the $1 million-mark, according to data collected by Sotheby's International Realty Canada and referenced by the Globe and Mail.

Montreal’s luxury real estate market even outpaced Vancouver and Toronto’s, Canada’s hotspots for high-price real estate transactions.

From the beginning of the year to June, real estate sales in Montreal totalled to $8.9-billion, according to data from Quebec’s real estate board.

Montreal-based real estate agents found the summer market hotter than usual, and some say it’s because in Montreal, you get more for your money.

Whether or not all of the people buying luxury real estate are from Montreal or elsewhere can’t really be determined.

But we do know that foreign buyers are definitely playing a role in Montreal’s luxury real estate market.

Since Quebec doesn’t have a foreign buyers tax, like B.C. and Ontario do, wealthy Chinese buyers are coming into the city to purchase property.

According to sources referenced by the Globe and Mail, rich Chinese buyers are gravitating towards specific Montreal neighbourhoods, like Westmount.

Quebec’s low unemployment rate and Montreal’s growing economy were also cited as reasons why the city had more luxury real estate sales in the last couple of months. People coming into the city, and Montrealers, aren’t too worried about spending since the economy is so stable right now.

But all good things (if you can really call this “good”) come to an end, and real estate experts predict Montreal’s top-spot for luxury real estate sales won’t last. Once the Vancouver and Toronto markets pick back up, Montreal will once again lag behind.

Unless the wealthy class of Canada keep in mind that Montreal is a deal when compared to Toronto and Vancouver. Again, Montreal grants more bang for your buck, so we may see even more rich people moving into the city.

Plus there’s still all the foreign buyers, who may still choose Montreal to avoid paying an extra 15%.