Summary
- Each town tips at about 1.5 times its median price
- Under $500,000, supply is shorter than buyers
- The mid-range drives volume, and it has crossed $500,000
- At the top, buyers are in less of a hurry and financed differently
- What the price range changes when selling or buying
- Reading the Laurentians real estate market through your price range
- FAQ
Key takeaways: The Laurentians real estate market changes sides with the price range. In the areas studied, sellers keep the edge up to about one and a half times the local median price. Beyond that, inventory piles up and buyers negotiate, because the clientele, the down payment and the supply all change from one tier to the next.
A regional median says almost nothing to the owner of a $960,000 house in Saint-Sauveur. The QPAREB barometer, which tracks the Laurentians real estate market urban centre by urban centre, sorts houses into five price ranges: the one that includes this house has 185 listed properties for 13 sales per month.
Listed at $920,000, the same house would fall into the range below: 53 listings, 7 sales per month, a market that still favours the seller. Forty thousand dollars separate two balances of power, and behind them two clienteles, two down payment rules and two levels of supply.
Each town tips at about 1.5 times its median price
In short: In the four areas studied, the market favours sellers up to a certain price, then buyers, and that threshold follows the price level of the area.
QPAREB’s residential barometer for the third quarter of 2026 divides each urban centre into five price ranges and measures the months of inventory for each: listed properties divided by monthly sales, averaged over 12 months. Below 8 months, the seller has the edge. Above 10, the buyer negotiates.
Four areas are enough to locate the tipping point, over the 12 months ending in September 2026:
| Area and category | Lowest range | Last range favouring sellers | Highest range |
| Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, single-family | Under $240,000: 8.9 months (balanced) | $600,000 to $720,000: 6.9 months | $720,000 and up: 14.2 months (buyer’s) |
| Sainte-Adèle, single-family | Under $280,000: 2.6 months | $690,000 to $830,000: 6.1 months | $830,000 and up: 19.0 months (buyer’s) |
| Saint-Sauveur, single-family | Under $310,000: 4.2 months | $790,000 to $940,000: 7.4 months | $940,000 and up: 14.8 months (buyer’s) |
| Mont-Tremblant, condominium | Under $210,000: 7.5 months | None: only the lowest range stays below 8 months | $630,000 and up: 22.8 months (buyer’s) |
Source: QPAREB by the Centris system, third-quarter 2026 barometer, market conditions by price range. QPAREB territories: urban centres of Sainte-Adèle, Saint-Sauveur and Mont-Tremblant, and the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts agglomeration.
Sainte-Adèle shows the sharpest break: 6.1 months of inventory between $690,000 and $830,000, 19.0 months above. And $830,000 is one and a half times the $555,000 median that QPAREB calculates for the same urban centre. The ratio is the same in the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts agglomeration ($720,000 for a median of $487,000) and in the Saint-Sauveur urban centre ($940,000 for $634,251).
These territories extend beyond the municipality: for the town of Saint-Sauveur alone, Centris gives a median of $685,000 over the same 12 months. A range threshold should be compared with the median of its own territory.
What sells slowly, then, is the expensive tier of each area, whatever its price in dollars.
Under $500,000, supply is shorter than buyers
According to Québec Land Register data (in French), the Laurentians recorded 15.6% fewer sales under $500,000 between January and August 2026 than in the same period of 2025.
Buyers have not disappeared, though. Under $470,000, single-family homes in Sainte-Adèle, Saint-Sauveur and Sainte-Agathe show between 2.6 and 4.2 months of inventory, setting aside Sainte-Agathe’s under-$240,000 range. Fewer sales in such a tight market means supply is falling short.
This is also the range with the lowest minimum down payment: 5% up to $500,000, according to CMHC’s mortgage loan insurance quick reference. A $350,000 house therefore requires $17,500, an amount the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) and the First Home Savings Account (FHSA) can help you put together, as explained in the guide to buying your first house.
When a house is listed well below the area’s prices, read the seller’s declarations before making an offer. A cracked foundation, a damp lot or a road that is difficult in winter often explains the gap, and the discount is then paid for in repairs.
The mid-range drives volume, and it has crossed $500,000
In short: Most sales happen in the middle of the ladder, supported by a region that attracts new residents, and nearly one sale in two there now exceeds $500,000.
In the Sainte-Adèle urban centre, 16 of the 31 monthly single-family sales close between $420,000 and $690,000. This middle market draws on a region that is gaining residents: according to the regional demographic profiles of the Institut de la statistique du Québec (in French), the Laurentians gained 5,655 people through migration exchanges with other Quebec regions in 2024-2025, a balance surpassed only by Lanaudière.
People aged 65 and over make up 22.5% of the population there, slightly more than those under 20 (21.2%). Households arriving from elsewhere, retirees changing homes: these figures cannot be broken down by price range, but they give a sense of demand.
The core of the market has moved up in price. The Land Register counted 17% of sales above $500,000 in the Laurentians from January to August 2021, and 48% over the same months of 2026. The increase is largely due to appreciation: with the 8% gained in one year by the median in the Saint-Sauveur urban centre, a $465,000 house crosses $500,000. These data cover all building categories, and 2021 was a record year.
The tier is felt at financing time. Above $500,000, CMHC requires 10% on the portion above that amount: a $650,000 house calls for at least $40,000 down, an amount within reach of a household selling a first property.
In Sainte-Adèle, a house listed at $820,000 stays in a range with 6.1 months of inventory; at $840,000, it enters the one at 19 months. An evaluation of your property places it among recent sales in its tier, in its area.
At the top, buyers are in less of a hurry and financed differently
In short: At the top of the ladder, listings pile up because buyers are fewer, in less of a hurry and subject to different financing rules.
In the Saint-Sauveur urban centre, the $940,000-and-up range has more listings than the $470,000 to $790,000 range, 185 versus 172. Yet it sells 13 houses per month, compared with 31.
CMHC draws a clear line: a loan can be insured with less than 20% down only if the price is under $1,500,000. At $1,450,000, you need at least $120,000. At $1,500,000, $300,000.
The same fact sheet requires a property that is habitable and accessible year-round. A three-season chalet at the end of a road closed in winter does not meet this condition, whatever its price, and the lender must confirm it along with the other points specific to a cottage for sale in the Laurentians.
Mont-Tremblant takes this logic all the way: in its urban centre, condos are in a buyer’s market from $210,000. Secondary residences likely carry more weight there than elsewhere, and a purchase made for pleasure can wait for the right price.
What the price range changes when selling or buying
- Seller near a threshold. Find out where the next range begins. In Saint-Sauveur, crossing $940,000 increases the competition from 53 to 185 listings.
- Seller in the most expensive tier. Plan for a longer selling time and have documents ready from the moment you list: this buyer has time to read everything.
- High-end buyer. Ask how long the property has been listed and whether its price has already dropped, since inventory is working in your favour.
- Owner moving up. You sell in a tight market and buy back in a looser one, which changes the answer to whether to sell or buy first.
Reading the Laurentians real estate market through your price range
For an owner, the real question is how many houses in the same tier are competing for the same buyers. The right benchmark is therefore the range you list in, read against the median of your own area.
These thresholds will move with the next barometer, and the down payment tiers with federal rules. Have your property placed within its range, based on comparable sales from the past year.
FAQ
How is the Laurentians real estate market doing by price range?
It is split in two. In the urban centres of Sainte-Adèle and Saint-Sauveur, single-family homes under $470,000 sold with 2.6 to 4.2 months of inventory over the 12 months ending in September 2026, according to QPAREB. The most expensive tier exceeded 14 months. In almost all of the Laurentians real estate market, sellers lead in the lower price ranges and buyers in the top one.
Will house prices drop in the Laurentians?
Not everywhere, and not at the same pace. QPAREB associates inventory above 10 months with weak price growth, sometimes a decline: that is the situation in the most expensive range of each area. Only condos in Mont-Tremblant already show a decline in their 12-month median, 6% for the town according to Centris and 2% for QPAREB’s urban centre.
Is it a good time to buy a high-end chalet?
Often, yes, for negotiating. In the most expensive tier of Saint-Sauveur, Sainte-Adèle or Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, inventory exceeds 14 months and buyers have time to compare. Financing remains the tricky part: at $1,500,000 and up, the minimum down payment rises to 20%, and a chalet that is not habitable year-round is hard to finance. Confirm both points with your lender before visiting.
