Island of Montreal Home Prices, September 2026: Single-Family Down to $779,000 While the CMA Holds

If you own a house in Montreal proper, the headline that "Greater Montreal home prices are flat" may not describe your street. The September 2026 figures from the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB, or APCIQ in French) show the median single-family price on the Island of Montreal falling 4% to $779,000, while the median for the whole census metropolitan area (CMA) did not move. Both numbers are correct. Our read of the wider region, which focuses on condos, is in Montreal CMA, September 2026. This one isolates the island and the single-family home, and explains how the same property type can head in two directions depending on the map you use.

Island of Montreal, September 2026: QPAREB's numbers

According to QPAREB's monthly statistics, compiled from the Centris system, the Island of Montreal recorded 1,104 residential sales in September 2026, down 14% from 1,287 a year earlier. By property type:

• Single-family homes: 310 sales (−20%), median price $779,000 (−4%), 55 days on market on average (+3 days);
• Condominiums: 586 sales (−9%), median price $476,500 (−1%), 73 days (+19 days);
• Plexes (2 to 5 units): 208 sales (−18%), median price $930,000 (+5%), 55 days (+6 days).

QPAREB measures every change against September 2025. A year earlier, the island's median single-family home sold for $815,000, on 387 transactions.

Down on the island, flat across the CMA

For the Montreal CMA as a whole, QPAREB counts 1,649 single-family sales in September 2026 (−9%) at a median of $635,000, exactly September 2025's level. Same month, same property type: the island shows a median down 4% and sales down 20%, the CMA a flat median and sales down 9%.

The gap in level, $779,000 against $635,000, is expected: houses on the island cost more than in the suburbs. What is worth reading is the gap in direction.

Why the two numbers don't contradict each other

The island is part of the CMA, but only a slice of it for single-family homes. Its 310 September sales make up about 19% of the CMA's 1,649. The other four-fifths happen in Laval, on the North and South Shores, in Vaudreuil-Soulanges and in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Subtracting the island leaves roughly 1,339 off-island sales, against 1,416 a year earlier: a drop of about 5%, far milder than on the island.

A regional median is driven mostly by whichever territory supplies the most sales. When houses slip on the island but not elsewhere, the CMA median mainly reflects elsewhere. An island owner reading the regional figure gets too rosy a view of their market; a suburban owner reading the island figure gets too gloomy a view of theirs. One caution: the CMA median cannot be rebuilt from the sub-region medians. The subtraction works for sales counts, not for prices.

One month versus nine: −4% in September, +4% year to date

The same QPAREB table carries year-to-date figures. From January to September 2026, 3,419 single-family homes sold on the island (−9%), at a median of $820,000 versus $789,000 over the same months of 2025: up 4%. Over nine months, the island's house market is not in decline. September is.

A monthly median built on 310 sales moves more than one built on 3,400-plus; a handful of transactions on either side of the middle is enough to shift it. One soft month is not a trend. If the island's median stays below last year's level through October and November, the reading changes. For now, September is a signal to watch, not a conclusion.

On the island, single-family stands apart

The island's other two property types did not follow. The median condo price is nearly flat at $476,500 (−1%), and the median plex rose 5% to $930,000. Single-family also posted the steepest drop in sales (−20%, against −9% for condos and −18% for plexes).

A price dip confined to one property type in one territory is not a market turning. It says that, on the island in September, a house buyer paid less than a year earlier while a plex buyer paid more. The two markets answer to different buyers: plexes are partly bought for rental income, houses to live in.

What island house sellers and buyers should take from this

For sellers, the median that matters is neither the CMA's nor even the island's, but that of comparable homes sold recently in your own neighbourhood. September mostly argues against setting an asking price off spring sales without checking what has sold since. The 55-day average gives a yardstick for judging whether a listing is lagging.

For buyers, September's dip is a fair negotiating point, as long as it is tested against sales on the street or in the area you are targeting. The year-to-date increase is a reminder that the decline is recent and does not hit every part of the island equally.