AI property valuation in Quebec: how Pricio works

AI property valuation in Quebec is not a magic algorithm guessing a price. It's a methodical cascade that leans on real recent sales, normalized by neighborhood and type. Pricio, the valuation engine powering CourtiConnect and the public Estimator, sits on 40,346 usable real sales, meaning the rows of comparable_sales excluding rentals. Every estimate states how many of those sales it rests on and which period they cover. To value your property right now, use the freePricio estimator.

The principle: 6-level cascade

Pricio queries the most statistically relevant data first. Level 0: neighborhood sales at exact type over the last 12 months. Level 0.5: full-city sales at exact type. Levels 1 and 2: active listings (market_listings) at exact neighborhood. Level 3: broad residential ratio for the neighborhood. Level 4: full city at exact type. Level 5: fallback if no reliable data is available.

The engine descends the cascade automatically as long as the sample holds fewer than 3 sales. Benefit: no fragile median on 1 or 2 sales, no overvaluation from a single atypical comparable.

What Pricio shows: sample size and period, not a score

Pricio doesn't just display a number. Each estimate states how many sales it rests on and which period those sales cover, from the oldest to the most recent. Two verifiable facts beat one aggregate score: a sample of 4 sales spread over eleven months and a sample of 30 sales from the last quarter do not read the same way, and that is for the reader to see.

The range follows a three-branch rule. If the sample is too scattered — interquartile range above 60% of the median — Pricio shows no range at all and gives the median only. From 10 sales up, the band runs from the 1st to the 3rd quartile of the sample. Between 3 and 9 sales, it is the median plus or minus 15%. Below 3 sales, the engine displays "Insufficient data" rather than risking a false signal. Bands are rounded to $5,000.

The 5 standard types: condo, house, duplex, triplex, plex

Pricio deliberately restricts types to five normalized categories: condo, single-family house, duplex (2 units), triplex (3 units) and plex (4+ units). The "other" Centris source category is explicitly excluded because it aggregates mistyped listings (commercial, land, partial sheets) that would skew neighborhood medians.

Without that typing discipline, the estimate would slide toward a biased, unusable average.

Living area sources: 4 levels

To compute a reliable price per square foot, Pricio uses a hierarchy of living area sources. Source 1: explicit Matrix Centris value (17% of listings). Source 2: building dimensions in meters extracted from the listing then converted (additional 39%). Source 3: City of Montreal open data — 512,288 property assessment units (additional 14.5%). Total current coverage: 71%.

For listings with no identifiable area, the engine relies solely on the neighborhood × type median rather than fabricating a speculative price per square foot. Methodological honesty over advertised performance.

Owned limits: what Pricio does not do

Pricio does not replace a municipal assessment (used to compute property taxes) or a chartered appraisal (required for bank financing, estate, divorce or litigation). It's a quick framing tool to prepare a brokerage mandate, calibrate a purchase offer or estimate a real estate portfolio.

Hamza Taleb, OACIQ broker at RE/MAX (438 877-8525), uses Pricio alongside a manual comparative analysis and an in-person property visit on his mandates across Quebec.

Conclusion: transparency first

A credible AI valuation publishes its methodology, sources, the size and period of its sample, and its limits. Pricio ships those four elements with every estimate. That's what lets a broker, buyer or seller decide on facts rather than absorb an opaque number.