Home Sales Are Down But Remains Better Than Previous Years

Despite having low sales in November compared to the same month in 2020, the Ottawa real estate market generated sales that were better on average than the previous 5 years.

This is what happened in November.

New Property Listings Continued to Decrease

• New residential and condo listings decreased by 26.8% with 1,430 listings available in the market compared to 1,635 new listings that existed in November 2020. 

Continued Reduced Sales Continue In Residential Resale Market 

• 1,086 residential resale properties were sold, a decrease of 9.8%, compared to 1,204 properties sold in November 2020. 

• Similar in October 2021, residential resale properties did not sell quickly on average from 24 days to 25 days on the market, which is a 2.7% increase from November 2020. 

• Based on the number of properties sold, buyers purchased residential properties in the $500,000 - $900,000 price range and over $1,000,000 price range which accounted for 80% of the residential resale property sales.

• Despite lower residential sale numbers compared to November 2020, buyers purchased mostly: 
  • Two-storey properties - average sale price - $753,083 (previously $637,434 in November 2020)
  • Bungalows (1-storey) - average sale price - $676,959 (previously $559,192 in November 2020) 

• Most of the residential properties were purchased in:
  • Downtown/Central Ottawa - average sale price - $845,891 (previously $712,916 in November 2020)
  • Kanata/Nepean/Barrhaven - average sale price - $738,607 (previously $624,980 in November 2020)
  • Orleans - average sale price - $682,411 (previously $574,414 in November 2020)

Reduced Sales In Condo Resale Market 

• 373 units were sold compared to 401 units sold in the same month in 2020, a 7.0% decrease. 

• Similar to the residential market, there were slow sales of condos where they were sold on average from 26 days to 33 days on the market, which is a 25.6% increase from the same month in 2020.

• Based on the number of units sold, most buyers purchased condo units priced in the $350,000 - $450,000 price range, accounting for 42.9% of the condo sales. 

• Despite lower condo sales compared to November 2020, the most sold condo units were:  
  • Two-storey units - average sale price - $419,406 (previously $337,081 in November 2020)
  • One-level units - average sale price - $433,594 (previously $379,977 in November 2020)

• Most of the condos purchased were in:
  • Downtown/Central Ottawa - average sale price - $464,937 (previously $390,772 in November 2020).

Increased Sales In The Luxury Home Market

• There was a 10.6% increase in luxury homes sales (priced over $1,000,000) compared to November 2020.

Other Real Estate Trends

• Over a two-year period (see tables below):
  • Average resale prices in core Ottawa increased by 46% to $783,000.
  • In the Ottawa Valley, average resale prices increased by 63% to $551,000.
  • In the Greater Ottawa area, average resale prices increased by 49% to $720,000.
  • Specific districts that gained significant average resale price increases and increased sales are: Manotick, Fitzroy Harbour, Stittsville, Dunrobin, Carp, and their respective surrounding areas, and Greely.

Source: James Bagnall, Ottawa Citizen, @JamesBagnall1, November 29, 2021