Note: I am just searching in downtown Montreal, nothing in the areas of Laval or not specifically “Montreal” as the city.

You can click on any of the images below to go to the actual real estate listing.

This is the area I concentrated in, downtown. There are obviously other areas that are slightly cheaper as you go farther out, but for the sake of keeping things focused, this is where I was looking:

$0 – $250,000

Yield: 1113 listings, mostly apartments in houses

Cheapest: $49,000 downtown Montreal

… but it’s a false alert because it’s just a parking lot! Not a house or apartment.

I’m pretty sure that doesn’t  count as a living space.

Actual Cheapest Abode: $145,109

Size: 338 square feet, bachelor’s studio (smaller than a regular studio)

Surprisingly cheap, and located right by a metro station (Guy-Concordia) in downtown Montreal.

 

But I’m pretty sure they’d call this “very cosy” in realtor terms.

It’s basically a VERY tiny closet that they’re trying to pass off as a studio of course, but if you are a single person do you really need all that space? Not if you’re willing to pare down and be a minimalist who makes every space super multi-functional!

The bedroom (let’s face it) is not really a bedroom as it is a small closet that you can only hope you can squeeze a twin-sized bed into, that will pretty much take up the entire space.

Top of the price range: $249,900

Size: 750 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom

This is what I would consider an acceptable size for an apartment if you aren’t into the tiny living movement. 750 square feet, charm and a separate bedroom that is an actual bedroom. I rather like the fireplace, but it’s also an apartment in a big old house, which means you are going to hear your neighbours.

It’s located just a bit north, near the Mont Royal park and McGill University up the hill. It’s a bit of a trek but it’s still reasonably close to downtown Montreal and a short bus ride (or a long walk) will get you to a metro station in no time.

If you’re interested in loft-like living, this would be a good option and again, great for a single person or a young couple without a lot of junk.

$500,000

Yield: 2 listings, no houses

Size: 2 bedrooms at 741 square feet but notably built in 2013

So this one is located in a very upscale, rich area of Montreal. Not THE richest area, but it is located near Westmount, which is where it is literally right on the doorstep of the mall, right at the start of where downtown begins and about a minute’s walk from a major metro station.

The place doesn’t look very big (it isn’t) but it is well located, which is the premium being paid. I hate the kitchen though.

$750,000

Yield: 2 listings, no houses

Size: 1485 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

This two story PENTHOUSE is located in a very quaint, cute area of Montreal — Old Montreal.

Very rustic, and always full of tourists. It’s a sexy loft style and it’s a bit of a walk to the nearest metro, but not anything where you’d have to take a bus. Maybe about 5 minutes away on foot.

To get to downtown, it’s also a short walk, maybe about 10 minutes, and it is pretty close to the highways.

It has 2 fairly big bedrooms, and when a place comes with its own wine fridge, you know it’s $$$$$$.

Did I also mention it comes with its own patio?

$1 million

Yield: 1 listing – no houses, condo only

Size: 1802 square feet and 3 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms

Surprisingly for such an expensive listing, they didn’t bother taking a lot of photos of the place. I mean, if it costs a million, it should at least have 10 photos of the bedroom and in general how it looks like the listing above for the penthouse.

Lazy.

It is however, located RIGHT in the heart of Old Montreal which accounts for why it’s a million, but the view however is clearly of the other buildings across from it, not of the river that runs nearby.

Still, you’re close to Old Montreal, a metro station is about 2 blocks away and I think it’s overpriced for what it is, considering the 2-story penthouse above is a quarter of a million bucks cheaper and has almost the same square footage, and is located in the same vicinity.

SUMMARY

For downtown Montreal, you can find a lot of homes under the $300,000 range, but they’re all mostly apartments or apartments inside houses that have been split into smaller units.

To find and buy an actual house (a whole one!) you’d have to move off and away from downtown Montreal, and either head up to the pricey Westmount area with the homes on the hills overlooking the city of Montreal, or off onto another island where you can actually find a home and not an apartment.

There aren’t many listings above the $400,000 range in Montreal which isn’t surprising at all to me, seeing as I find the homes in Montreal a lot less expensive than in Toronto (my previous city). When people here can only really afford $400,000 as their maximum budget, you’d be hard pressed to find luxury buyers, let alone buyers paying a lot of money for a shack in Montreal when there are other options available on other islands and areas of Montreal.

In general, the more money you spend, the nicer the place looks and the more square footage you get, although it doesn’t really go above 2000 square feet in downtown Montreal.

Location also factors in greatly, but it clearly doesn’t factor in so much that people are suckered into paying a huge premium.

COMPARING REAL ESTATE IN OTHER CITIES

CANADA

U.S.A.

NEW ZEALAND