Greater Montreal saw an eight per cent decrease in residential real estate sales in May 2013, compared to the same month last year, registering the smallest drop in sales in the past seven months.

The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board (GMREB) says the Centris provincial database showed 2,288 residential sales transactions in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).

All three property categories registered a drop in sales in May 2013, as compared to May 2012. Sales of single-family homes and duplexes fell by seven per cent, while condominium sales decreased by 12 per cent.

All five main areas of the Montreal CMA registered a decrease in sales in May 2013. While the North Shore posted the smallest drop at five per cent, sales in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the South Shore and Montreal decreased by seven, eight and nine per cent, respectively. Laval registered a 14 per cent drop in sales.

The median price of a condominium unit remained unchanged in May in the Montreal CMA. A slight decrease of one per cent was registered on the Island of Montréal ($274,000) and in Laval ($208,000), while there was an increase of three per cent on the North Shore ($175,000) and four per cent on the South Shore ($189,500).

“Condominium prices have stabilized since the start of the year in the Montreal metropolitan area,” says Paul Cardinal, manager of market analysis at the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards. “Despite a slight excess in supply, construction of new condominiums has slowed considerably in recent months, which could lead to a rebalancing of this market segment in the near future.”