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OTTAWA, February 5, 2018 – Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 712 residential properties in January through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 664 in January 2017, an increase of 7.2 per cent. The five-year average for January sales is 638.

“While January is typically the month we see the lowest number of listings come onto the market, the numbers for this month are very low,” Rick Eisert, 2017 President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, observes. “The five-year average for new listings in January is 1,396 for residential and 500 for condominiums. January 2018’s listings were at 994 and 406 respectively.”

“We saw this trend throughout 2017, and the result is our resale market is being challenged by decreasing supply in both the residential and condo markets. Furthermore, as the supply continues to be reduced, it will tend to put an upward pressure on prices. This is simple supply and demand economics,” he adds.

The average sale price of a residential-class property sold in January in the Ottawa area was $427,487, an increase of 8.8 per cent over January 2017. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $263,744, a decrease of 8.6 per cent from January 2017. The Board cautions that the average sale price can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The calculation of the average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold. Price and conditions will vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

January’s sales included 173 in the condominium property class and 539 in the residential property class.

“Sales in the residential property class this month were on par with January 2017 with a minor decrease of 1.1 per cent. Unit sales in the condo market, however, have seen an increase of 45 per cent from 119 units sold in January 2017 to 173 units in January 2018,” Eisert explains.

“The most active price point in the residential market is the $300,000 to $449,999 range, accounting for 47.5 per cent of the market. While the most active price point in the condo market, between $150,000 and $249,999, accounts for 55 per cent of the market,” states Eisert. “There is a marked increase in the number of condo units sold in the lower end of the market specifically. This is likely due to the attractive lower price point and the fact that the demand is there.”

“For homeowners thinking of selling, this is a good time to get your property on the market before spring,” Eisert advises. “Since inventory is currently low, sellers will certainly get attention because selection for buyers in some areas, in particular, is quite limited.”

In addition to residential and condominium sales, OREB Members assisted clients with renting 166 properties since the beginning of the year.

According to the Globe and Mail the Ottawa Real Estate market IS the Canadian real estate market to watch in 2018. Yes Toronto and Vancouver get a lot of the headlines but Ottawa has a different market to offer.

As reported in the Ottawa Citizen – Four wards might not get a penny from the extra $10 Million shovelled into asset maintenance for 2018.

Seems to me like 4 rather important wards! I wonder what the details are? I hope they come out! There really are times I don’t understand how this city operates… Comments I`m reading from residents in those specific wards dont seem too happy with this decision. A comment in Facebook goes so far as to suggest a need for new councillor in one ward.

The Royal Bank of Canada and the Toronto-Dominion Bank rose their bank rates to 5.14 per cent. Others are expected to follow.

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OTTAWA, November 2, 2017 – Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 771 residential properties in December through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 711 in December 2016, an increase of 8.4 percent. The five-year average for December sales is 687.

December’s sales included 205 in the condominium property class and 566 in the residential property class. The average sale price of a residential-class property sold in December was $434,098, an increase of 3.4 percent over December 2016. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $255,335, a decrease of three percent from December 2016.

“December saw an increase of 3.5 percent in the number of units sold in residential sales and 25 percent in condo sales. This could very well be attributed to the changes in the mortgage qualification rules implemented January 1, 2018,” speculates Ralph Shaw, 2018 President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board.

“2017 was another solid year for the Ottawa Real Estate market in both the number of transactions as well as the reasonable increase in prices, about seven percent in residential and three percent in the condo market,” Shaw acknowledges. “We continue to have a stable and balanced market. Although inventory tracked low all year and new listings were down each month, new home supply counteracted the impact somewhat.”

The total number of residential and condo units sold through the Board’s MLS® System throughout all of 2017 was 17,083, compared with 15,526 in 2016, an increase of ten percent. Overall, residential sales volume was up 16 percent.

“In 2017, the condo market rebounded with a 22 percent increase in the number of units sold, which is quite significant. The relatively flat increase in prices suggests that we found the ideal price point in which to move the units,” Shaw concludes. “As for residential sales, there was a good availability of product under $500,000 considering almost 10,000 out of approximately 13,500 residential units sold fell in that range.”

2017’s average residential sale price was $425,063, an increase of 6.8 percent over 2016, while the average condominium sale price was $269,903, an increase of 3.4 percent over 2016. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

When asked for a 2018 forecast regarding the new mortgage rules stress test, Shaw points out, “One factor that will soften the blow of the new mortgage rules is Ottawa’s average price point in the $400,000s, which means our market will certainly fare better than those in Toronto or Vancouver.”

“Nevertheless,” he cautions, “we will continue to monitor the impact of the stress test. It is unlikely that we will truly see the results of this poorly conceived piece of legislation until the end of the second quarter.”

In addition to residential and condominium sales in 2017, OREB Members have assisted clients with the sale of 419 commercial properties and 20 farms units, as well as with the rental of 2,977 properties.