Condo Market Chaos in Quebec: Bidding Wars, Limited Offers, and High Demand

2024-03-26 04:00:00

Dozens of visits, multiple offers and significant bidding wars: the condo market has been in turmoil in the Quebec region in recent months.

“Currently, it’s back to how it was during the pandemic: if we’re below $300,000, there are often eight or nine of us making an offer at the same time and it ends in a bidding war,” explains Hans Tremblay, real estate broker at Via Capitale in the Quebec region.

According to the director of the Egan Real Estate Agency, Jennifer Egan, big bidding wars of $20,000 to $30,000 above the displayed price “are not rare” in the Old Capital condominium market in 2024. Several Buyers even take the risk of not requesting an inspection to increase their chances.

“I sold a condo in Lower Town which was listed for $290,000 in the last few weeks,” says Ms. Egan. It was posted on Tuesday. By Saturday, we had made 30 visits and received six offers. It sold for overbidding, like almost everything for less than $400,000.”

Limited offer

According to the monthly report from the Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec (APCIQ), the number of condominium registrations fell by 9% in February 2024, compared to the same date last year.

In the eyes of Simon Lafrenière, of Via Capitale, the offer limited to “three or four goods available to a buyer” allows sellers to control the price. His colleague, Hans Tremblay, personally believes that the lack of affordable semi-detached homes contributes to the rush for condos.

“Normally, people go to semi-detached homes to enter the real estate market. These first buyers are moving towards co-ownership. It happened to me with several clients who were looking for a semi-detached to finally turn to the condo in the short term. It allows them to have assets when, in a few years, they want to move into a house,” continues Mr. Tremblay.

All agents consulted by The newspaper agree that the increase in rents in the National Capital is pushing many tenants who are saving for a house to “choose the in-between to avoid continuing to pay in the void.”

Bustling market in Trois-Rivières

Even if the windfall is less intense in Mauricie, the director of the Francheville Remax franchise based in Trois-Rivières, Nicolas Geoffroy-Brûlé, emphasizes that the market there is also “very effervescent”.

“There is a lot of interest in properties under $300,000, but we are no longer in a period of bidding wars as extreme as during the pandemic. The condo market remains very active and we almost always see multiple offers,” he notes.

Not easy to find a condominium in Sherbrooke

A similar phenomenon is occurring in Sherbrooke. The scarcity of affordable condos on the market makes the purchasing process difficult for many potential buyers.

Maxime Verpaelst had budgeted $275,000 to buy a condo downtown. He had several rejected offers before finding the right fit after six months of searching.

Maxime Verpaelst, a restaurant manager who bought a condo in recent weeks, after months of searching. He made several offers with significant overbidding before finding the right fit in Sherbrooke on Friday March 15, 2024. PHOTO Dominick Ménard Photo Dominick Ménard

“There always ended up being at least five of us making an offer,” he maintains. It discouraged me at times, I said to myself: so, am I going to be able to find it? Everything that ends up on the market is either overpriced or needs a lot of work.”

The director of OMG Resto believes that the current market is very complicated to integrate for first-time buyers, since “people who already have good liquidity must also turn to condos” because the houses are too expensive.

“The fewer conditions we set, the more likely we are to get it. I already lost a condo because the person who got it put in $25,000 more than me and didn’t ask for a building inspection.”

Strong demand

Real estate agent William Leblanc, of Royal LePage Evolution, in Sherbrooke, says that the value of condominiums has increased considerably in his sector in recent months due to growing demand.

“What sold for $200,000 in 2023 is worth $250,000. I would say that 90% of condo sales are done with a major bidding war. Demand is very strong, because rents are made almost as expensive as a small mortgage.”

He maintains that the market is “so reactive” that sellers sometimes set a deadline for opening offers, in order to avoid being squeezed by overly insistent buyers or to better control the number of visits.