Montreal real estate: Where to buy in the city's inner suburbs 2018

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1. Laval-Ouest (Fabreville)

Want to step away from the high prices of Montreal Island? Consider settling into the heart of Greater Montreal: Laval-Ouest.

This neighbourhood is a hub that’s only 20 to 30 minutes away from downtown Montreal, making it a great option for commuters. Plus, the lower-priced homes in this neighbourhood tend to be older properties built before the 1980s, which enables buyers to add their own sweat equity into a home, if they wish.

The average home price in this neighbourhood is just over $262,000, which is $110,000 less than the average house price for all of Montreal’s inner suburban neighbourhoods. In the last year prices appreciated 11% and in the last five years property values have gone up 18%.

2. Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu (Chambly)

This outer suburban community jumped 86 spots to No. 2 this year and with good reason. The average home price in this neighbourhood was just over $306,100 — that’s a $25,000 savings from the inner suburbs average home price and a price point that’s almost $75,000 less than the average house price in the Greater Montreal Area (GMA). But it’s what buyers can get that really makes the difference. Rather than settling for a townhome with a postage stamp backyard, buyers can move into a three or four-bedroom detached home with a front and backyard.

PHOTOS: Top 10 Montreal neighbourhoods to buy in

First, though, you’ll have to make peace with the commute. Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu is a 30-minute drive from Montreal’s core — more if you hit traffic or get bad weather. As a result, there are some urban-dwellers that don’t even consider this community to be a part of Montreal, but it is part of Greater Montreal and for those who want to stretch their house-buying dollar, Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu and the south shore are becoming more and more popular.

3. Saint-Hubert (Saint-Hubert)

Another south-shore neighbourhood to make it into our top tier lists is Saint-Hubert. Last year this quiet community was No. 31 in the overall ranking, this year it’s No. 3 on the inner suburbs list.

This neighbourhood offers quaint two to four-bedroom detached homes at reasonable prices. The average cost for a single-family home in 2017 was just under $300,000 — a full $80,000 less than the average home in the Greater Montreal Area (and $30,000 less than other inner suburban Montreal neighbourhoods).

The community is only 20 to 30 minutes away from downtown Montreal, which is great for people who don’t mind the commute. But it’s particularly attractive to those that work in Quebec’s aerospace industry, which is a big employer in the Longueuil area.

Top 25 neighbourhoods

ClickTap column headings to re-rank neighbourhoods. ClickTap on any neighbourhood name to learn more about it. Search by neighbourhood or area to filter results.

Rank	Neighbourhood	Area	Average home price (2017)	Value	Momentum	Realtor Grade	Average price vs. area	Avg. price vs. metro district	Avg. price vs. outer region	1-year price change	3-year price change	5-year price change
1	Laval-Ouest	Laval	$262,074	87.50	84.52	★★½	87.27%	74.35%	78.94%	11.25%	13.06%	17.81%
2	Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu	South Shore	$306,133	58.93	99.40	★★½	89.91%	89.02%	92.22%	11.71%	27.25%	31.35%
3	Saint-Hubert	South Shore	$299,864	55.95	75.60	★★★½	100.00%	87.19%	90.33%	7.11%	14.10%	15.28%
4	Greenfield Park	South Shore	$306,058	59.52	80.36	★★★	91.54%	89.00%	92.19%	8.84%	14.33%	16.23%
5	Saint-Philippe	South Shore	$273,023	73.81	74.40	★★½	98.28%	79.39%	82.24%	5.18%	8.30%	23.74%
6	Saint-Amable	South Shore	$245,282	94.64	46.43	★★½	80.20%	71.32%	73.89%	4.95%	7.31%	11.34%
7	Brossard	South Shore	$422,911	30.36	83.93	★★★½	92.05%	122.97%	127.39%	6.02%	14.25%	21.75%
8	Beloeil	South Shore	$303,787	61.31	62.50	★★★	93.38%	88.34%	91.51%	9.89%	10.22%	11.55%
9	La Prairie	South Shore	$373,871	40.48	68.45	★★★½	85.06%	108.71%	112.62%	9.74%	7.30%	16.64%
10	Delson	South Shore	$275,329	67.26	63.10	★★½	99.11%	80.06%	82.94%	6.19%	9.44%	13.34%
11	Sainte-Dorothée	Laval	$474,569	20.24	92.26	★★★	95.92%	134.64%	142.96%	14.52%	24.85%	19.22%
12	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	South Shore	$435,022	20.83	75.00	★★★½	98.42%	126.50%	131.04%	10.64%	6.86%	19.43%
13	Otterburn Park	South Shore	$304,969	58.33	51.19	★★★	93.74%	88.68%	91.87%	8.34%	7.34%	11.01%
14	Pont-Viau	Laval	$298,602	70.24	49.40	★★½	88.09%	84.72%	89.95%	3.67%	11.04%	11.23%
15	Châteauguay	South Shore	$241,950	82.14	40.48	★★½	98.78%	70.35%	72.88%	6.45%	7.29%	10.12%
16	Fabreville	Laval	$310,957	46.43	51.79	★★★	103.54%	88.22%	93.67%	6.86%	13.39%	9.84%
17	Chambly	South Shore	$318,691	51.79	47.02	★★★	93.59%	92.67%	96.00%	1.40%	6.54%	13.80%
18	Sainte-Catherine	South Shore	$268,534	76.19	32.74	★★½	96.66%	78.08%	80.89%	2.86%	6.63%	10.58%
19	Richelieu	South Shore	$274,145	83.33	24.40	★★★	80.51%	79.72%	82.58%	1.97%	9.65%	2.78%
20	Beauharnois	South Shore	$198,906	98.81	24.40	★★	81.21%	57.84%	59.92%	-0.89%	4.40%	10.71%
21	Saint-Lambert	South Shore	$627,667	2.38	82.14	★★★½	136.62%	182.51%	189.07%	7.03%	15.98%	17.28%
22	Vimont	Laval	$359,033	25.60	68.45	★★★	104.04%	101.86%	108.15%	10.14%	10.14%	13.11%
23	Auteuil	Laval	$340,363	36.90	55.95	★★★	98.63%	96.56%	102.53%	3.55%	13.34%	12.65%
24	Carignan	South Shore	$434,098	11.90	86.90	★★★	127.49%	126.23%	130.76%	7.53%	12.84%	27.84%
25	McMasterville	South Shore	$280,723	75.60	19.64	★★★	86.29%	81.63%	84.56%	4.06%	3.17%	6.38%

Value: Measures how affordable the neighbourhood is compared to the surrounding area and the region overall
Momentum: Measures how quickly prices are appreciating in this neighbourhood, with an emphasis on long term appreciation
Realtor Grade: How realtors we surveyed rate this neighbourhood

For more, please see our complete methodology

These are our picks for the best neighbourhoods to buy real estate in Montreal’s inner suburbs, but if you’d rather live closer to downtown or even farther into the countryside, we have more suggestions. We ranked the best neighbourhoods in three regions — core, inner suburbs and outer. The core is the city’s urban centre, with accessible transit and easy access to amenities. The inner suburbs are for people who don’t mind trading a longer commute for better parking and a bigger lot size. And the outer region is for buyers who either don’t need to commute downtown at all, or are willing to log some serious travel time in exchange for affordable prices and wide open spaces. Check out the map below to see how the regions break down.