Limited Supply of Housing Inventory + Buyer Demand = Higher Real Estate Prices In October

Low inventory of properties available for sale in the market combined with high demand for real estate in Ottawa and the surrounding areas in October continued to be the trend similar to September 2021. 

These factors affected housing sales and this what happened.

New Property Listings Decreased

• New listings of all property types decreased by 18.5% with 2,901 listings available in the market compared to 3,559 new listings that existed in October 2020. 

Reduced Sales Continue In Residential Resale Market 

• 1,263 residential resale properties were sold, a decrease of 23.6%, compared to 1,653 properties sold in October 2020. 

• Residential resale properties did not sell quickly on average from 19 days to 24 days on the market, which is a 25.9% increase from October 2020. This was a similar trend in September 2021.

• Based on the number of properties sold, buyers purchased residential properties in the $550,000 - $900,000 price range and over $1,000,000 price range which accounted for 71.4% of the residential resale property sales.

• Despite lower residential sale numbers compared to October 2020, buyers purchased mostly: 
  • Two-storey properties - average sale price - $751,607 (previously $628,658 in October 2020)
  • Bungalows (1-storey) - average sale price - $680,383 (previously $565,953 in October 2020) 

• Most of the residential properties were purchased in:
  • Downtown/Central Ottawa - average sale price - $837,823 (previously $780,791 in October 2020)
  • Kanata/Nepean/Barrhaven - average sale price - $743,657 (previously $620,218 in October 2020)
  • Orleans - average sale price - $665,798 (previously $608,643 in October 2020)
  • Casselman/Rockland/Hawkesbury - average sale price - $528,350 (previously $446,107 in October 2020)

Reduced Sales In Condo Resale Market 

• 417 units were sold compared to 479 units sold in the same month in 2020, a 13.6% decrease. 

• Similar to the residential market, condos did not sell quickly. They were sold on average from 19 days to 30 days on the market, which is a 64.6% increase from the same month in 2020. This trend was consistent in September 2021.

• Based on the number of units sold, most buyers purchased condo units priced in the $300,000 - $450,000 price range, accounting for 62.5% of the condo sales. 

• Despite lower condo sales compared to October 2020, the most sold condo units were:  
  • Two-storey units - average sale price - $392,819 (previously $342,606 in October 2020)
  • One-level units - average sale price - $413,223 (previously $393,879 in October 2020)

• Most of the condos purchased were in:
  • Downtown/Central Ottawa - average sale price - $461,250 (previously $405,798 in October 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 October 2020.

Growing Rental Market

• Rental properties are in high demand with an 18.6% increase where 638 rentals were secured by tenants compared to 538 rentals in October 2020.

Other Real Estate Trends

• Residential resale prices in rural areas continued to increase at a faster pace than Ottawa’s city limits from Carp to Cumberland. (see results in the tables below)

• The areas within Ottawa city limits that generated the largest average resale values were in the rural areas: Dunrobin, Greely, and Carp. Within the downtown core, the most significant resale value gains were in Lower Town-Sandy Hill.

• The rural areas that generated the largest average resale values were Kemptville South, Almonte, and Mississippi Mills (see results in the third table below).

Source: James Bagnall, Ottawa Citizen, @JamesBagnall1, November 3, 2021