This piece was submitted to the Citizen Journal project of the Peter-McGill Community Council. Please note that the opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of our organization. This project aims to create space for the voices of residents, students and friends of the neighbourhood through articles, photos, videos, and podcasts in any language. Are you interested in contributing? Contact us at benevolat@petermcgill.org!
by Martin Paraire
As the summer sun shines over the city of Montreal, residents witness an endemic phenomenon of this season: As students and workers finish their sessions, during a few weeks, a curious ballet with a myriad of participants will take place in the city, with sidewalk littered with abandoned belongings, and over packed cars lining the streets.
Residents will now engage in a complex game of conquest, either using brute exploration or networking to find their new places across the city. As not all districts have the same uses and dominant economic activities, it is a significant worry for the younger generations regarding rent affordability and access to property near places of education and work. However, this game also applies to the Peter-McGill district, with the proximity of universities and dense economic activities making it an attractive neighbourhood in the city.
Using data aggregated on small-announces websites (where most students will perform their research), data can be translated into a wide density-map pinning down average rent according to the location:
We can see that both maps reveal that the Peter-McGill district is situated on the highest part of the cost spectrum: most of the district mark 1400$ for a one-bedroom apartment, with higher prices in the southern part of the district, peaking at 1800$ per month. Similar trends in prices are observed for a two-bedroom apartment, with an average of 1600$ for two bedrooms, soaring at 2000$ in the southern part of the district.
Using linear regression techniques, specific characteristics can be statistically correlated to the value of location:
One furnished bedroom, which would be the type of accommodation sought after by students, is rented at 1524$ per month in the Ville Marie district, and a two-bedroom furnished apartment is rented at 1894$ per month. Trends of prices show nothing reassuring for the renters, as analysis shows an increase of 50%, further straining the budget of renters.
Although renters are racing against their wallets to afford accommodation in the district, they must also race against time:
The survival rate, which is the amount of time an offer remains on the market, shows rapid transactions: 50% of proposals are removed within five days, and the expected value in days of offers is 5.38 days, which can make it difficult for a renter to find a home.
But a housing crisis characterised by quickly rising rents and a shortage of apartments — worsened by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic — could leave renters scrambling.
As the socio-economic profile of the district’s population inclines most of the people to rent rather than own, the district’s residents would thus be very vulnerable to fluctuations in the district’s market. Moreover, as the sprawling construction of condos in Montreal could not reassure the residents of future affordable housing, other solutions would prove challenging to implement:
Although providing short-term relief for renters, direct monetary transfers should not be sought after as well: direct transfers allow to sustain price inflation, while also participating in a direct transfer of public finances to the assets balance-sheet of the wealthiest. Moreover, the construction of social housing in the district could also prove difficult, given the land value and segmentation of parcels.