Montreal home valuations up 6%, lowest in a decade

Property assessments in Montreal are up 5.9 per cent, the lowest increase in a decade.

The head of the city's executive committee said the new numbers reflect a levelling off in the growth of property values.

"Such stability helps prevent the kind of real estate bubble we've seen in Vancouver and Toronto and helps keep housing affordable across the island, " Pierre Desrochers said Wednesday.

The property assessments will be used to help determine property taxes for the next three years, from 2017 to 2019.

Within the City of Montreal, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension and the Southwest borough had the highest increases. 

Among municipalities, Westmount and Town of Mount Royal saw the largest jump.

Previous rolls had seen values increase by more than 20 per cent. 

• More and more Montrealers challenging property assessments
• See below for a breakdown of the increases

'Chill' on housing market?

The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board had earlier predicted a five per cent increase for single-family homes and duplexes.

Paul Cardinal, director of market analysis at the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards, attributed the low increase in part to a change in mortgage rules.

"In 2013, the maximum amortization period dropped from 30 years to 25 years. That cast a chill on the Quebec housing market," he said.

"We continued to see a slowdown in sales in 2014 ... But in 2015 until today, the market is growing again."

Average property increases, by municipality

• Westmount - 7.2%
• Town of Mount Royal - 6.6%
• Montreal - 6.2%
• Pointe-Claire - 5.8%
• Beaconsfield - 5.5%
• Montreal-East - 5%
• Dollard - 4.2%
• Montreal West - 2.9%
• Kirkland - 2.5%
• Côte-Saint-Luc - 1.9%
• Senneville - 1.8%
• Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue - 1.1%
• Baie-D'Urfé - 1.11%
• Hampstead - 0,1%
• Dorval Island - minus 4.3%

Average property increases, by borough

• Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie - 9.3%
• Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension - 8.3%
• Southwest - 7.8%
• Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce - 7.7%
• Plateau–Mont-Royal - 7.2%
• Outremont - 6.3%
• Montreal - 6.2%
• Ville-Marie - 6.1%
• Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve - 6.1%
• Lachine - 5.8%
• Saint-Laurent - 5.4%
• Ahuntsic-Cartierville - 5.1%
• Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles - 5%
• LaSalle - 4.8%
• Montreal North - 4.7%
• Pierrefonds-Roxboro - 4.6%
• Verdun - 4.3%
• Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève - 3.8%
• Anjou - 3.7%
• Saint-Leonard - 3%