Real estate broker in Hull, at the heart of urban Outaouais

Hull is Gatineau's historic sector, located directly across the Ottawa River from downtown Ottawa. It's the city's densest area, condos, plexes, character homes, restaurants, museums. For federal workers who want to cross the bridge on foot or by bike, it's the closest area.

The Zibi project is currently transforming Île de Hull and Chaudière Island. This 34-acre development built on both banks of the Ottawa River, in both Gatineau and Ottawa, includes residential condos, office space, retail and public spaces. The federal government calls it the National Capital Region's first net-zero community, and Zibi is building a zero-carbon district heating and cooling system. The first phases are occupied. (Source: zibi.ca, Natural Resources Canada, 2021)

For investors, Hull remains a plex sector: 106 plexes sold there over the last 12 months (QPAREB, Q3 2026). Rental demand has dropped since COVID, so I start from the rents in place before talking about returns.

Hull has long drawn multiplex investors, because of its residential density and its proximity to Ottawa. The rental market has cooled since COVID.

According to CMHC, the rental vacancy rate in the Gatineau area rose from 1.9% in October 2024 to 3.8% in October 2025. The increase was most pronounced in the Hull and Gatineau zones. So return analysis matters even more.

Over the last 12 months, the median plex price in Hull was $597,750, up 6% (QPAREB, Q3 2026). In the deals I handle, plexes with below-market rents sell faster. A poorly rented or poorly maintained plex stays on the market longer, and its price gets negotiated. I'm also seeing more owner-occupants buying a duplex or triplex to live in.

I'm a real estate investor myself, my analysis is honest, not a sales pitch.

Hull mixes older condos, older plexes, single-family homes and new-build condos in the same sector. In Q3 2026, QPAREB's Hull sector recorded a median price of $289,900 for condos and $475,000 for single-family homes (Centris data). Over the previous 12 months, the median plex price was $597,750. Condos took longer to sell than houses: 38 days on average, compared with 22 days for single-family homes.

On the income side, plexes are the main reason Hull is on Outaouais investors' shortlists. Federal offices at Place du Portage, Place du Centre and Terrasses de la Chaudière generate stable demand from public servants who want to walk to work. The 2025-2026 cycle did rebalance the rental market. New builds delivered in Hull and on Île de Hull pushed vacancy slightly higher and capped rent growth, but older plexes with below-market tenants and renovation upside still trade actively. Cap rates on those older buildings typically land between 5% and 7% gross.

The wild card for the next few years is the tramway. Under review by Mobilité Infra Québec since February 2026, the project would link Aylmer and the Plateau to downtown Ottawa. In June 2026, its cost was estimated at about $8 billion for 24 km, to be built in several phases, and the 2035 opening targeted by the former project office remains to be confirmed. I treat the tramway as a possibility, not a guaranteed lift, and I price every Hull listing on today's fundamentals first.