Prices stayed strong in July

Twenty-three single-family dwellings and two duplexes changed hands in July for a total $25,113,400, thus the raw average price of the sales was just over $1 million. With an average markup for the month of almost 20 per cent, this meant that a Westmount house with an average valuation of $998,480 would have a value of almost $1.2 million.

Top price in July was $2,650,000 for a detached home at 646 Carleton Avenue, the only sale over $2 million in the month. Next-highest was a semi-detached house at 488 Strathcona Avenue, near King George Park, which changed hands for $1,750,000. On the low side were 114 Abbott Avenue (mistakenly entered in the June sales list last month) at $449,000, and 45 Stayner Street at $477,500, the only two sales under $500,000 in the month.

Included in the list of homes transferred were two of the townhouses on St. Catherine Street near Victoria Avenue, as both 4828 and 4830 St. Catherine Street sold for prices in the mid-$500,000 range. These townhouses have some condominium ownership attached to them but for statistical purposes are being kept in the single-family category.

One other July sale involved a house at 3606 The Boulevard which actually was sold back in the fall of 2003, but the transfer was not registered until now. The correction anticipates another sale of the property later this year. The price of $540,000 is hardly representative of today’s prices for that house, so it is not included in the averages for July.

Two small retail spaces in the commercial concourse at 1 Wood Avenue changed hands in July for a total of $5,000, less than half their considered value for tax purposes. There were no residential condominiums which changed hands in July, though two flats sold as share-sales of duplexes and one more “usufruct” sale at the 435-39 Grosvenor Avenue apartment complex was registered.

One triplex at 337 Elm Avenue, extensively renovated in the past several years, changed hands for over $1 million. The same triplex sold in December, 2004, for $770,000, and again in June, 2006, for $925,000.