Quebec Q2 2026: 27,296 Sales Against 41,466 Active Listings

The second quarter of 2026 comes down to two movements pointing opposite ways: sales down 5%, available inventory up 14%. The underlying shift was already visible in Montreal, as documented in our tracking of metropolitan inventory. Here is what these numbers say, and above all what they do not.

Two different measures, two variations to read separately

Start with the precision that prevents bad arithmetic. The 27,296 sales accumulate three months of closed transactions. The 41,466 listings are active listings, meaning an average stock of properties available across the period. They are not properties newly brought to market, and they are not a flow.

One reading rule follows: these two numbers are not divided by one another. A quarterly flow set against an average inventory level produces nothing interpretable. The only comparison that holds is between the annual variations, and it is telling: active listings rise 14% while sales fall 5%.

Put differently, available supply is thickening considerably faster than demand is contracting. That divergence, not the absolute level of either figure, is what defines the quarter.

What 14% more active listings means for a seller

A rise in available stock does not mean the market is collapsing. It means a listed property is now compared against more simultaneous alternatives. That is a change in competition, not in demand.

In practice, the Q2 2026 buyer has more choice than a year earlier, and knows it. The asking price therefore tolerates far less approximation: a property positioned above its market no longer stands alone in its segment, it becomes the reference point that makes the better-priced neighbour look sharp.

Prices did not follow sales

This is the least intuitive fact of the quarter. Despite falling sales, all three provincial medians rose. Single-family stands at $523,250, up 5%. Condominium reaches $405,000, up 1%. Plex sits at $690,000, up 2%.

Selling times confirm the three segments are not living the same reality. Across Quebec, single-family sells in 38 days, plex in 43 days and condominium in 46 days. Eight days separate the fastest from the slowest, and the ranking places condominium last.

The same split between volume and price shows up in the revised full-year outlook: sales down 6% across 2026, alongside a 5% increase in the single-family median price. The working scenario is therefore not a price correction, but a market that transacts less without depreciating.

Montreal is falling faster than the province

The Montreal metropolitan area recorded 13,365 sales in the second quarter, down 7%, against 5% for Quebec as a whole. The pullback is sharper there, which has not stopped prices from advancing: single-family at $645,000 up 3%, condominium at $430,000 up 1%, plex at $874,000 up 5%.

Montreal selling times trace a wider spread than the province: 32 days for single-family, 43 days for plex, 48 days for condominium. Sixteen days separate fastest from slowest, against eight province-wide. The plex, meanwhile, posts exactly 43 days in both geographies, which is not a recording error but a useful coincidence: it is the one property type whose speed does not depend on territory.

It is also the Montreal plex that gains the most on price, up 5%, twice the pace of its provincial counterpart. The rental segment holds up where housing demand is densest.

The causes APCIQ names

The slowdown in volume is not left unexplained. APCIQ names three factors: job losses among 25-54 year olds since the start of 2026, mortgage renewals at higher rates, and slower population growth.

All three converge on the same population. The 25-54 bracket is the one that buys, the one that renews, and the one immigration was feeding. When the three tighten together, demand recedes without prices having any mechanical reason to follow immediately, since existing owners are under no obligation to sell.

For a seller, the practical conclusion fits in one line: the Q2 2026 market does not punish price, it punishes time. A correctly positioned property sells within the days shown above. A poorly positioned one accumulates days on market, inside an inventory 14% fuller than a year ago, and it is that counter which eventually costs the price.