Montreal basks in 'Goldilocks' status as Toronto housing cools

Toronto

WHILE the once-soaring housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver are showing signs of cooling, Montreal is just getting started.

Demand in Canada's second-largest city has heated up enough to put Montreal-area home prices on track to rise 6 per cent this year, the biggest jump since 2010, according to the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards. That's up from a January forecast of just one per cent growth. Job creation, robust consumer confidence and new immigrants are fuelling demand.

"We aren't as crazy as Vancouver and Toronto as far as price increases," said Eric Goodman, agency executive at Century 21 Vision in Montreal. "But activity is pretty good."

Montreal's real estate market so far has been left out of the global spotlight focused on the booming Canadian property markets of Toronto and Vancouver. That could change as foreign-buyer taxes in those cities curbs demand and potentially sends purchasers looking…