Buying · Negotiation
Negotiating power is back. What matters is knowing what to do with it, because it is not only about price.
The balance of power, in figures
QPAREB, Montreal CMA, August 2026: 2,853 residential sales, down 13% year over year, and 20,128 active listings, up 18%. On the South Shore supply is up 28%, on the North Shore 26%.
Fewer buyers transacting, more properties waiting. That is the definition of a market tilting toward the buyer.
What comes back, beyond price
- The pre-purchase inspection. Thousands of buyers dropped it to make an offer more attractive. Getting it back is the single biggest gain, and it costs the seller nothing.
- The financing condition. Even with a pre-approval, it protects against a bank appraisal below the price paid.
- An occupancy date that suits you, rather than the seller's.
- Inclusions. Appliances, light fixtures, built-in storage, a snowblower. They can be asked for, and they are given up more easily than a price cut.
- Repairs after inspection, rather than a simple credit, when the seller can have the work done better and cheaper than you can.
The nuance the QPAREB adds
Helene Begin: the market has entered a phase where buyers have regained some negotiating power, but also more reasons to hesitate.
That second half is the one nobody quotes. More choice also means more doubt, and many buyers spend the autumn comparing without ever submitting an offer. Negotiating power is worthless if it is never used.
Where the balance has not tilted
Averages hide entire markets. A well-located, well-prepared, correctly priced property still draws offers quickly, and sometimes more than one. Negotiating power is real on listings that linger, not on those that just came out.
So the useful question is not "is this a buyer's market" but "is this a buyer's market for this property, today". Days on market and the history of price revisions answer that better than any regional statistic.
What we do before an offer
We check how long the property has been listed, whether there has been a price revision and when, how many comparable listings compete with it right now, and what similar properties actually sold for over the past three months. Those four answers are worth more than an intuition about the general trend.
What these figures do not say
A regional statistic describes a market, not a property. Two houses on the same street, at the same price, can meet opposite fates depending on their condition, their preparation and the competition active at the exact moment of listing.
That is why we never set a price from an average. We start from comparable closed sales over the past three months, look at what is competing today, and adjust for real differences. The statistic is background, not method.
Three habits in the current market
- Price to be found, not to keep room. Buyers search by bracket, and built-in room drops you out of their search.
- Set a revision date in advance. Deciding at week five, before listing, avoids deciding emotionally at week twelve.
- Prepare the file before the showings. Documents, certificate of location, invoices for work done. What answers fast converts better.
Related
Frequently asked
Does the market favour buyers in 2026?
Sales fell 13% and listings rose 18% in the Montreal CMA in August 2026, which restores negotiating power to buyers.
What should I ask for first?
The pre-purchase inspection. It had largely vanished from offers and costs the seller nothing to restore.
Is it a buyer's market everywhere?
No. Negotiating power is real on listings that linger, much less so on those just brought to market.
Sources: Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) releases of 4 September 2026 covering the Montreal CMA and the Quebec City CMA, August 2026 data. The price-revision and overbidding statistics come from the Quebec City CMA release; the Montreal CMA release does not publish those measures for the same month. Figures consulted 13 September 2026.
Published by the Loaa & Manseur team, number one team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025. Tell us about your project.