For two years, buyers were chasing a market that wouldn't wait for them. This summer, the balance of power has shifted. There are more properties for sale than at any point in the past decade, the policy rate won't move before September, and prices are climbing slowly instead of taking off. Here's how to read this market and buy at the right moment on the South Shore.
Why summer is working in your favour
In June, the Montreal metropolitan area had 20,894 properties for sale on Centris, up 17% in a year. That's the eleventh straight month of rising supply. At the same time, sales are slipping: 4,012 transactions in June, 8% fewer than a year ago. More choice, less competition for each property. For a buyer, those two numbers tell the same story.
Prices, though, aren't collapsing. The median single-family home sells for $649,000 in the region, up 4% in a year. Condos sit at $435,000, up 2%. In other words, you're not buying into a market that's losing value. You're buying into a market that finally gives you the time to choose well.
1. Get your financing pre-approved before you visit
This is the step too many buyers put off. A pre-approval locks in a rate for 90 to 120 days. That covers you well past the Bank of Canada's next decision on September 2. The average five-year fixed rate hovers around 4.9% in Quebec, but rates near 4.1% exist depending on your file and your down payment. The gap between 4.9% and 4.3% on a $400,000 loan is more than $130 a month. Shop for your financing the way you shop for the house.
2. Use the extra choice as leverage
When only one property matches your criteria, you negotiate badly. When five do, you negotiate well. Today's inventory gives you exactly that. You can make a conditional offer without fearing you'll lose everything to another buyer the next morning. You can ask for an inspection, a reasonable deadline, a price adjustment backed by comparable sales. Sellers know it, and many are ready to talk.
A market that lets you set conditions is a market where nobody has to buy in a panic.
3. Never give up the inspection
During the overheated years, some buyers skipped the inspection to make their offer more attractive. That pressure is gone. Keep the inspection condition. On a thirty- or forty-year-old house, a roof, a foundation or a water entry at the end of its life can mean tens of thousands of dollars. The report also gives you a real negotiating argument if it turns up work to be done. It's protection, not a formality.
4. Look at the right segment, not the average
The market isn't uniform, and that's where the choice of neighbourhood and property type matters. Condos are the segment loosening fastest: the average selling time has stretched to 47 days, and some central sectors now clearly favour buyers. That's the best ground for negotiating. Single-family homes remain more contested; they still sell in about 38 days, so come with a solid offer. Plexes keep the favour of investors, with a median price of $880,000, up 6%. Each segment follows its own logic. My July market update covers these gaps in detail.
5. Buy before September if you can
Summer is quiet on the market, and that quiet serves you. Fewer active buyers in July and August, and sellers who want to close before fall. Activity usually picks back up in September, and if the Bank of Canada lowers its rate on September 2, part of the buyers who were waiting will come back all at once. Buying now means using a window where you have both time and choice, before the competition tightens again.
What I take from all this
Summer 2026 offers South Shore buyers something rare: room to decide. Rates steady until September, the deepest inventory in ten years, prices holding without spiking. The right strategy isn't to wait for a hypothetical drop; it's to get ready now, with financing pre-approved, a neighbourhood targeted and conditions set out properly. If you'd like to go over your budget and the sectors that fit your project, write to me or call 438 830-9581. And if you're selling to buy again, the evaluation of your property is free.