On balance, a steady year for Ottawa resale home sales

January 6, 2011 : On balance, a steady year for Ottawa resale home sales

Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 620 residential properties in December through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 687 in December 2009, a decrease of 9.8 per cent. The total number of residential properties sold through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system in 2010 was 14,199, down 3.6 per cent from 2009. The average price for 2010 was $327,225, an increase of 7.7 per cent over 2009.

Of December’s sales, 192 were in the condominium property class, while 428 were in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, stacked etc.) which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.

“2010 was an interesting year because of the introduction of HST. This, and changes to mortgage regulations affected spring and summer home sales, pushing many buyers and sellers into the market earlier in the year,” said Board President Joanne Tibbles. “However, we see from these numbers how stable Ottawa’s housing market remained, partly due to our diversified employment base that continues to weather unstable economic conditions with relative ease. Sales may have declined from what was, in fact, a record year in 2009, but prices have continued to rise at a healthy rate, demonstrating continued demand for resale housing in Ottawa,” she added.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in December in the Ottawa area was $324,556, an increase of 5.6 per cent over December 2009. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $254,776, an increase of 3.5 per cent over December 2009. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $355,860, an increase of 7.8 per cent over December 2009. 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.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board is an industry association of 2,600 sales representatives and brokers in the Ottawa area. Members of the Board are also members of the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The MLS® system is a member based service, paid for by the REALTOR® members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. The MLS® mark symbolizes the cooperation among REALTORS® to effect the purchase and sale of real estate through real estate services provided by REALTORS®. MLS® commercial and residential listings are available for viewing on the Board’s internet site at www.OttawaRealEstate.org and on the national websites of The Canadian Real Estate Association at www.REALTOR.ca and www.ICX.ca.