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Urban exodus hasn't touched house prices in Montreal Island: study
un sujet a posté Malek dans L'actualité
Urban exodus hasn't touched house prices in Montreal Island: study Mike King, Montreal Gazette Published: Tuesday, June 03 Urban sprawl doesn't appear to have had a negative effect on Montreal Island house prices. While 2007 marked the fifth year in a row that Montreal and its on-island suburbs suffered a net loss of approximately 20,000 residents, according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. notes house prices have soared over the past decade. For example, results of Royal LePage's national Urban vs. Suburban Survey released yesterday show the average price of a bungalow in the city appreciated by 130 per cent to $253,125 during the past 10 years while its suburban off-island counterpart rose by 99 per cent to $226,273. At the same time, the price of a standard two-storey urban home climbed 120.5 per cent to $307,400 compared to a 107-per-cent jump to $265,625 in the 'burbs. The survey examined five urban (Notre Dame de Grâce, Beaconsfield, Dollard des Ormeaux, Dorval and Pointe Claire) and four suburban (St. Lambert, Boucherville, St. Bruno and Laval des Rapides) markets. Gino Romanese, Royal LePage senior vice-president in Toronto, explained in a phone interview there has been "greater demand than supply the last 10 years despite that exodus (of Montrealers)." "The combination of a shortage of inventory and virtually no space in the city for new development led to the significant gains that Montreal experienced over the past decade," he added. "Also contributing to the city's rising house prices is the fact that historically, Montreal's prices were well below the Canadian average." Romanese said "as the country experienced a rapid expansion cycle in the early 2000s, Montreal followed suit with house prices near, or more than, doubling." He pointed out urban enclaves such as N.D.G. hold the most appeal to homeowners because of their proximity to businesses, trendy shopping areas, restaurants and public transit. "The preference for urban dwelling has helped fuel healthy price increases in recent years, with the sharpest rate of appreciation taking place in the past five years." The survey found that shortages of inventory in popular urban residential markets caused many purchasers to look to the urban periphery and then to the suburbs to satisfy their housing needs. "Looking ahead 10 years, it is likely that both Montreal's urban neighbourhoods, as well as their surrounding suburbs, will both see solid price appreciations," Romanese said. "With the city's transit system anticipated to eventually extend out to the St. Lambert area, it's likely more people will consider moving away from the city." But stressing that Montreal remains "a vibrant city with some of the finest restaurants and cultural activities in the country, there are buyers who will always clamour for a home in the heart of the city." He suggested the local situation anwers the age-old question of whether it's best to live in the city or the suburbs. "It depends on what you're looking for, it's a lifestyle choice and by and large, whether you invest in an urban or a suburban area, you should do equally well if history (of the past decade) repeats itself." mking@thegazette.canwest.com © The Gazette 2008 -
Lawyer exodus shutters Desjardins 35 Lawyers Join Rival Lavery Firm; Quebec's Spun Off Jim Middlemiss, Financial Post Published: Saturday, August 18, 2007 An era will end for the 100-lawyer law firm Desjardins Ducharme LLP in September. The once-esteemed law firm will close after more than 50 years in business. Thirty-five of its key Montreal business lawyers will leave the firm to join rival Lavery, de Billy LLP at the end of next month. Concurrently, the Quebec City office of Desjardins, which comprises 50 lawyers and merged into the firm in 1992, has spun out and will operate under its old name Stein Monast LLP. [/url] Another seven litigators from the Montreal office will join litigation specialist Donati Maisonneuve LLP. The final eight lawyers will either retire or have said they are moving to other firms or into corporations. "We have accounted for everyone," said Gerard Coulombe, chairman of Desjardins, who explained that "Quebec City couldn't join the Lavery deal because it would have created too big a firm[for that region.]" Jean Brunet, managing partner of the Quebec City office, agreed: "You can't have a law firm of 100 lawyers in the area. "We're putting down the principles of how it will work in Quebec City," he said of the new firm, adding that he does not rule out opening a smaller Montreal office. The addition of 35 lawyers to Lavery creates a 180-lawyer firm, making it the largest independent provincial firm. The split is no surprise and has been rumoured for weeks once Desjardins started bleeding lawyers to other firms. "We took a good hard look at the various practices and groups lawyers," said Richard Dolan, managing partner at Lavery, said. "We settled on some very strong, solid business lawyers and bankruptcy and insolvency lawyers who had complementary practices to our practice mix. This is a really exciting business opportunity for us." Lavery has always had strong business in insurance, said Mr. Dolan, "The lawyers are going to bring additional bench strength to our corporate merger and acquisitions practice and the insolvency group." Of late it has been a tough go for some independent law firms, squeezed by the creation of large national firms, especially in Montreal, where several Toronto-based firms have opened offices or merged with local firms. In the spring, Goodman and Carr LLP, a 90-lawyer Toronto firm, said it was dissolving its practice. Kip Cobbett, a lawyer with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montreal, said it is "very sad" to see Desjardins' demise. "It was a wonderful firm. It will certainly change the landscape." The agreement is subject to a vote by the Lavery partners expected later this month. jmiddlemiss@nationalpost.com
