Quebec City at 18 Days: The Tightest Market in the Province

Our Quebec City market overview covered neighbourhoods and underlying trends. The second quarter of 2026 adds one number that locates the region on its own: a single-family home sells there in 18 days, against 38 across Quebec. Twenty days apart, in the same province.

18 days against 38: the gap with the province

The median selling time for a single-family home is 18 days in the Quebec City metropolitan area, down 7 days year over year. The provincial benchmark is 38 days, and the Montreal area sits at 32. Quebec City therefore sells a house in a little over half the Montreal timeframe.

The other two types follow the same movement. Condominiums fall to 22 days, down 6, and plexes to 28 days, down 9. All three selling times shortened at once, which is true of no other region studied this quarter: elsewhere, at least one segment slows.

Volume confirms the tightness. The region recorded 2,872 sales, up 2%, while the province fell 5% with 27,296 sales. Quebec City is not only selling faster, it is selling more.

Nine quarters of decline, then a 19% rebound

The event of the quarter sits somewhere other than the selling times. Active listings reached 2,170, up 19%, after nine consecutive quarters of decline. That is a trend reversal, and it deserves to be flagged as one.

Nine quarters means more than two years during which the number of properties available in Quebec City did nothing but shrink, quarter after quarter. A buyer who entered this market in 2024 watched their choice narrow every season. That the streak broke is information in itself.

Why 19% changes nothing yet

The figure that puts the increase in perspective is this: supply remains 57% below its ten-year average. In other words, available stock sits at barely more than four tenths of its usual level.

A 19% gain applied to a stock cut by more than half does not restore balance. It slows the depletion; it does not reverse it. That is why selling times keep falling even as inventory recovers: the two series do not contradict each other, they describe a market still far below its normal despite a first sign of replenishment.

The reading lesson extends beyond Quebec City. A percentage change says nothing without its starting point. A 19% increase on an already normal stock loosens a market; the same increase on a collapsed stock only makes it slightly less scarce.

The plex, the region's most dynamic segment

Median prices for single-family homes and condominiums each rose 6%. The plex rose 13%, with volume up 15%. It therefore doubles the price performance of the other two types while gaining transactions.

Its selling time follows the same logic: 28 days, down 9, the sharpest drop among the region's three types. A segment accelerating on price, on volume and on speed at once describes demand clearly exceeding available supply.

Those 28 days compare against the provincial plex benchmark of 43 days. A rental building therefore sells in Quebec City in two thirds of the time it takes elsewhere in the province.

What 18 days demands of a buyer

A median of 18 days means half of houses find a buyer in under three weeks. Preparation becomes decisive, negotiation becomes secondary. Concretely: pre-approval obtained before viewings, criteria settled, availability to visit within days of a listing going live.

That does not mean skipping verifications. A fast market increases the temptation to shorten condition deadlines, particularly the pre-purchase inspection. That is precisely where expensive mistakes are made. Speed should apply to the decision to make an offer, not to due diligence.

For a seller in the region the configuration is favourable, with one nuance. Speed rewards a fair price from day one; it does not reward an optimistic one. In a market where the benchmark is 18 days, a property past a month on the market becomes conspicuous for the wrong reason, and the day counter turns against it faster than elsewhere.