Of all the cities outside of British Columbia and Ontario – which together account for about 10 of the most expensive regions in Canada – Montreal is now the most expensive real estate market in the country with a median price of more than $650,000 for all home types in October.
Like most expensive cities, there is a category of home that’s well above average but still below the ultra-wealthy options, and this month we found a price point of just under $2.2-million that allows you to buy a very nice home in just about every part of a metropolitan area with close to 4.5 million people.
Scroll to the bottom to vote on which house you think is the best deal.
Montréal
5386 Rue Jeanne-Mance
Asking price: $2,150,000
Many walkable urban areas in Montreal could claim to be the best or most vibrant part of the city. Mile End, just north of Mount Royal and on the edge of the popular Plateau area of the city, has as good a claim as any.
“It’s an area that has everything you want on the corner of the street,” said listing agent Yannick Charlet of Re/Max Du Cartier Inc. She notes that among its many draws, the house she’s listing on Rue Jeanne-Mance is almost equidistant between two of the city’s most famous bagel makers: St-Viateur Bagel and Fairmount Bagel.
Until recently, there was a trend of buying multiplexes in areas like this and removing the internal divisions to create one large home. But recently, municipal action has been taken to dissuade that kind of gentrification. That means large (more than 2,000 square feet), undivided homes with four above-grade bedrooms and a big backyard will remain rare in Mile End. The almost 12-foot ceilings and period features of this 125-year-old home help, too: “It has the charm with old mouldings, which personally I love. The past owners did renovations, but conserving that history brings it prestige,” said Ms. Charlet.
“On the Plateau, this is the high range of prices for houses,” she said. “Above $2-millon you’re competing with properties on the waterfront, big lots, properties in the higher range areas.”
Laval
3805 Av. de l’Empereur
Asking price: $2,195,000
If you wanted a driveway, a garage and a big yard in Montreal you traditionally left the island for the suburbs, and the biggest of those suburbs is Laval.
In the partially wooded area of Val-des-Brises, a little more than $2.1-million can get you almost 5,000 square feet of living area on 10,000 square feet of land at the edge of a subdivision of similarly large homes.
“The sheer size of it, that’s something very hard to find in a reasonable price,” said Stephen Montanaro, who’s working with his brother Joseph of Re/Max Action Inc., the listing agent for this house. In Stephen’s view, the main reason the house has been on the market for more than 180 days is because of Donald Trump’s trade war.
“The tariffs hit the luxury market: At the end of March, we noticed a slowdown right away,” he said. “Between April and August, we’ve had our worst year in luxury real estate in five years.”
The house has huge rooms and tall ceilings, but perhaps slightly specific tastes in darker stone, tile and hardwood mixed in with contemporary millwork and cabinetry. “The next set of buyers will want to put their own personal touch on it,” said Mr. Montanaro, who notes these are the original finishes from when the house was built in 2007.
LONGUEUIL
2038 Rue du Chevreuil
Asking price: $2,180,000
One factor many think is indispensable to luxury suburban living is proximity to a golf course, and not all locations are equal. “Not every hole is fun to be on; close to a tee or green, it’s less quiet,” said Vincent Fortin, one of a team of realtors with Engel & Völkers Montreal listing a seven-bedroom orange-brick minimansion in the Parcours du Cerf area of Longueuil on Montreal’s South Shore.
Built in 1995, the home backs onto a long, and quiet, fairway of Deer Course Golf Club. It features a huge pool-deck patio, as well as multiple sunrooms. There have been numerous renovations – including the kitchen and great room – that the current owners completed over the past four years. It’s also been on the market for more than 175 days, the price perhaps a little high for commuters who have to deal with the traffic on the closest major connection to Montreal – the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel – which began a major lane-constricting overhaul in 2019 with completion delayed now into perhaps 2027. Mr. Fortin expects local prices will gain some traction when the work is done, and says that’s what happened in next-door Brossard in 2019 when a project to replace the Champlain Bridge span was completed.
What city do you want to see in the next month's edition?
Each month in The Price Point, real estate reporter Shane Dingman will take a deeper look at a region in Canada and find out what your money gets you in various cities or neighbourhoods. Let us know which region you'd like to see in the next edition and it could be featured in a special reader section.