Living in Hampstead: the 2026 neighbourhood guide

Living · Hampstead · October 12, 2026

A town of houses and gardens in the middle of the island, without a single storefront: what it is like to live there, and what it costs.

Hampstead is a town of the Montreal agglomeration enclaved between Côte-Saint-Luc and the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, designed as a garden city: curving streets, detached single-family houses on planted lots, residential zoning with no commerce, a central park with pool and community centre. It is lived by car and on foot toward the shops of Queen-Mary, Côte-Saint-Luc and NDG, with the Snowdon metro and the Décarie Expressway at its door. The APCIQ counts it in the island's Centre sector (with Westmount, Outremont and Town of Mount Royal): median house at $1,980,000 in the second quarter of 2026, down 3% year over year and up only 1% in five years, 64 days on market. Made for families who want quiet, English and French, and a lot on the island; less for those who want a shopping street on foot, a condo or an entry price.

The character of Hampstead

Hampstead is one of the reconstituted towns on the island of Montreal, a municipality of the agglomeration with its own council and its own services, enclaved between Côte-Saint-Luc to the north and west and the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce to the south and east. It was designed in the early twentieth century on the garden-city model: curving streets that break through traffic, detached single-family houses on planted lots, and strictly residential zoning. There is no shopping street and no storefront in Hampstead; it is intentional, and it is what its residents buy. The housing stock runs from brick houses of the 1920s to 1960s to the contemporary rebuilds of the last fifteen years, often larger than the original houses.

The sectors, and what sets them apart

The town reads in two halves on either side of Queen-Mary Road and around Hampstead Park. To the north, the widest streets and the largest lots, near Côte-Saint-Luc; to the south, toward NDG, shorter streets and houses closer together, within walking distance of the Snowdon metro. Recent rebuilds concentrate on the deepest lots; the original houses, often to renovate, remain the town's entry point, and the price depends on the street as much as on the house.

Getting around

Hampstead is lived by car for errands and on foot for parks and schools. The Snowdon metro (orange and blue lines) is at the south-east edge of the town, the Décarie Expressway a few minutes away, and Cavendish Boulevard crosses the town toward Côte-Saint-Luc and Saint-Laurent. Downtown is a quarter of an hour by car off-peak and about twenty minutes by metro. The curving streets and one-ways are designed to discourage through traffic: it is quiet, and it is a detour for those who do not know the place.

Parks, leisure and shops

Hampstead Park, in the centre of the town, groups the outdoor pool, tennis courts, playgrounds and the community centre; the other parks are neighbourhood parks. For shopping, residents go to Queen-Mary (Snowdon), the shopping centres of Côte-Saint-Luc and Décarie, or Monkland and Sherbrooke in NDG. No restaurant or grocery store within the town limits.

Schools and services

Hampstead falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal for the French system and the English Montreal School Board for the English one, with an English elementary school in the town and several private schools nearby in Côte-Saint-Luc, NDG and Westmount; the exact school catchment is checked at the address. The Jewish General Hospital and the McGill University Health Centre are a few minutes away. The town has its own public works, recreation and public security services, and takes part in the agglomeration for police, fire and transit.

The Hampstead real estate market in 2026

The APCIQ does not publish a median specific to Hampstead: the town is counted in the island's Centre sector with Westmount, Outremont and Town of Mount Royal. In the second quarter of 2026, that sector's median single-family house sold for $1,980,000, down 3% year over year and up only 1% in five years (when the island as a whole did +21%), in 64 days, with 119 sales and 312 active listings; the median condo, $770,000. Two neighbouring benchmarks to place Hampstead: Westmount, $2,272,500 median on sales from January to September 2026 (Centris, Matrix), and Côte-des-Neiges–Côte-Saint-Luc, $1,164,500 in 29 days in the second quarter. Hampstead is a market of unique houses, where two sales on the same street can differ by a million depending on the house's age: the median tells less than the comparable closed sales, which the team pulls from the Centris system for each street. Our file Montreal luxury real estate in 2026 gives the sector's context.

Who Hampstead is for, and who it is not for

For those who want a detached house with a lot in the middle of the island, the quiet of a town without commerce, schools in both languages and a stable neighbourhood, and who have the Centre sector's budget. Less for those who want a shopping street on foot, a café on the corner, a condo or a plex (there are practically none), or an entry price: the original house to renovate is the bottom of the range, and it costs the price of the land.

The pros and cons

The pros

• A garden city in the centre of the island: planted lots, streets without through traffic, detached houses.
• The Snowdon metro, Décarie and downtown a quarter of an hour away.
• Schools in both languages, two major hospitals and the shops of NDG and Côte-Saint-Luc next door.
• A market of unique houses where a well-advised seller gets their price, and where the buyer negotiates in 2026 (top-end market down 3%).

The cons

• No shop, no restaurant in the town: everything is by car or on foot toward the neighbours.
• The Centre sector's budget, and municipal taxes specific to a small town of houses.
• An old stock in its original part: roofs, windows, foundations and systems from the 1930s to 1960s to update.
• Little choice: a few dozen sales a year, long delays, no condo to start with.

Frequently asked questions

Figures: APCIQ barometer for the second quarter of 2026 (Centre sector: Westmount, Outremont, Town of Mount Royal, Hampstead; Côte-des-Neiges–Côte-Saint-Luc sector) and Centris (Matrix) for Westmount, January to September 2026, compiled by the Loaa & Manseur team; description of the town from our visits and the Town of Hampstead's public information. Written October 12, 2026.

Our proof, not our promises

The Loaa & Manseur team, led by Lotfi Manseur and Loaa Al Daow, is the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 of large residential teams according to the official RE/MAX ranking, computed on actual transactions. Its Google profile counts more than 220 reviews with a 4.9 rating. Its offices are at 55 avenue de l'Équinoxe in Brossard, one bridge from the island, and every broker's licence can be checked in the OACIQ public register. Three things to verify yourself before calling us, and to demand of any other broker.

Also available in French: version française de ce guide.

Published September 7, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.