Montreal CMA Sub-Regions July 2026: An Uneven Slowdown

In July 2026, the Montreal metropolitan area lost 10% of its sales year over year. That average covers very different situations depending on where you stand: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu gave up 22%, the North Shore only 3%. Seven points separate the North Shore from the regional average, and twelve points separate it from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. The Montreal slowdown has a geography, and it deserves to be set out before any decision. The full picture of the month is in our review of Montreal home sales in July 2026.

The month's sales counts, sub-region by sub-region

The island of Montreal accounts for 1,198 sales in July 2026. The North Shore records 843. The South Shore counts 747. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu counts 80. Together these four sub-regions add up to 2,868 of the 3,338 sales in the metropolitan area: they therefore do not form a complete breakdown, and the rest of the territory is not itemized in the data available to this article.

What the data allows, and what it rules out

Only two year-over-year variations are published at the sub-region level: the North Shore, at minus 3%, and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, at minus 22%. For the island of Montreal and for the South Shore, the comparison with July 2025 does not appear in this data. So we do not write it, and we do not reconstruct it by subtracting from the regional total either: since the four sub-regions cited do not cover the whole territory, such a calculation would blend in unitemized zones and produce a wrong number with the appearance of precision.

This caveat is not methodological vanity. A seller who reads "minus 10%" and mentally applies it to their own area is making a decision on a figure that does not describe their area. An absent number, flagged as absent, beats a number invented by inference.

Two speeds, in the same month

The gap between the two known variations is considerable. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu gives up more than double the regional average; the North Shore gives up three times less than it. Same month, same rate environment, same economy, and yet two opposite trajectories. That is the most useful reminder in this record: the housing market is not a single object moving up or down in one block, it is a sum of local markets whose averages hide the dispersion.

One reading caveat on Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu: its monthly volume is far smaller than that of the other sub-regions cited. On small numbers, a handful of transactions either way moves a percentage a long way. The magnitude of the move is real; what it means over a single month calls for caution.

What it changes for a seller

The regional statistic is context, never a price. If you are selling on the North Shore, the closest information to your situation is that this sub-region held up better than the average this month. If you are selling in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the reverse applies, and that justifies tighter preparation: a price anchored from day one on recent comparable sales in your area, a complete file, genuine availability for showings. In both cases the useful reference stays local, at the level of the neighbourhood and the property type.

What it changes for a buyer

If your search spans several sub-regions, these gaps are directly usable. A market slowing more offers statistically more choice and more decision time than a market holding firm. That does not mean prices are lower there: median prices by sub-region do not appear in this data, and we will put forward none. What these figures describe is the pace of transactions, not the level of prices.

What to watch

A single measure: whether the gap between sub-regions persists. If the North Shore keeps giving up clearly less than the average over several consecutive months, that will be a feature of the market and not a monthly accident. If the gaps close, it will mean the slowdown has spread evenly across the region. One reading settles neither.