The average sale price for a new home in Ottawa increased $37,834 in July compared to a year ago, the first month-over-month increase in home prices in the capital in 10 months.
New statistics from the Ottawa Real Estate Board show the average sale price for a freehold-class property in July was $754,188, up 5 per cent from July 2022. Sale prices for a new home increased one per cent from June, when the average sale price for a new home was $746,445.
The average sale price for a condominium in Ottawa was $435,094 in July, up 2 per cent from a year ago.
“July’s average prices are showing positive gains over last year, and year-to-date numbers, as expected, are still closing the gap from the peak pandemic market activity of early 2022,” Ken Dekker, Ottawa Real Estate Board president, said in a statement.
“Additionally, inventory continues to climb steadily as new listings are added to the housing stock, creating more options for homebuyers. August may be a slower month in Ottawa, but I wouldn’t take a vacation from shopping for your home.”
A total of 1,263 residential properties were sold in Ottawa in July, up from 1,102 in July 2022. The sales included 979 homes and 284 condominiums.
“Both transactions and average prices are up from last July indicating consumers remain confident in the market notwithstanding the two recent quarter-per cent interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada,” Dekker said.
“We’re only a month into the third quarter, but based on July’s positive indicators, we are likely to see solid year-over-year results in the second half”
The Ottawa Real Estate Board says there were 2,234 new listings for homes and condos in July, 6 per cent lower from July 2022. The months of inventory for the freehold-class properties have decreased to 2.7 months from 2.8 months.
“Although we are in a sellers’ market again, the pandemic’s frenzy has calmed considerably. Sellers need to manage their expectations with true market activity — not every property will automatically see multiple offers or immediate sales,” Dekker said.
“Ultimately, a property’s price is determined by how much a buyer is willing to pay.”
A look at the average monthly sale price for a home in Ottawa (data from Ottawa Real Estate Board)
July 2023 – $754,188 (up 5 per cent from 2022)
June 2023 – $746,445 (down 4 per cent from 2022)
May 2023 – $745,902 (down 7 per cent from 2022)
April 2023 – $747,123 (down 10 per cent from 2022)
March 2023 – $719,070 (down 17 per cent from 2022)
February 2023 – $708,968 (down 15 per cent from 2022)
January 2023 – $676,272 (down 12 per cent from 2022)
December 2022 – $655,839 (down 7 per cent from 2021)
November 2022 – $680,031 (down 5 per cent from 2021)
October 2022 – $677,873 (down 5 per cent from 2021)
September 2022 – $706,658 (up 0.5 per cent from 2021)
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
