Lower Sales & Rising Prices in Ottawa Housing Market in May

The Ottawa residential resale market continued to experience lower housing sales in May despite the steady increase in its average sale price, which went up 11.2% at $548,140 from $493,037 during the same month in 2019. Also, the condo market experienced lower sales with the average sale price went up 15.5% at $343,589 from $297,497 during the same month in 2019.

Here is what happened in May:

Residential Resale Housing Sales Continue To Decline

• The residential resale market generated 1,066 houses sold, a decrease of 42.6 per cent, compared to 1,857 properties sold in the same month in 2019. 

• Surprisingly, residential resale homes were sold slightly longer on average from 36 days to 40 days on the market, which is a 10.9 per cent increase from the same month in 2019. This trend may indicate the impact of increasing residential home sale prices and the new Canadian Mortgage & Housing Corporation tight mortgage qualification rules on buyers delaying their plans to buy a home due to affordability concerns.

• Buyers bought residential homes in the $400,000-$450,000, $450,000-$500,000, $500,000-$550,000 and $550,000-$600,000 price ranges, which accounted for 52.5 per cent of the residential resale home sales. 

• Buyers bought mostly: 
  • Two-storey homes - average sale price - $574,463 (previously $514,051 in May 2019) 
  • Bungalows (1-story) - average sale price - $505,708 (previously $459,164 in May 2019) 
     

• Most of the residential homes were bought in:
  • Downtown Ottawa - average sale price - $692,243 (previously $639,904 in May 2019)
  • Kanata/Nepean - average sale price - $558,197 (previously $496,768 in May 2019)
  • Orleans - average sale price - $541,507 (previously $473,654 in May 2019)
  • Rockland/Casselman/Hawkesbury - average sale price - $402,188 (previously $332,058 in May 2019)

New Residential Resale Listings Declining

• The number of new residential resale listings in the market decreased significantly to 1,276 properties from 2,512 new properties listed in May 2019, a 49.2 per cent decrease.  

Declining Condo Sales

• The condo market generated 279 units sold compared to 553 units sold in the same month in 2019, a 49.5 per cent decrease. 

• Similar to the residential resale market, condo units continued to sell much quickly on average from 40 days to 26 days on the market, which is a 36.7 per cent decrease from the same month in 2019. 

• Buyers bought most of the condo units priced in the $200,000 - $250,000, $250,000 - $300,000 and $300,000 - $400,000 price ranges, accounting for 84.6 per cent of the condo market. 

• The most sold condo units were:  
  • Two-storey homes - average sale price - $304,666 (previously $266,836 in May 2019)
  • One-level homes - average sale price - $363,474 (previously $317,223 in May 2019)

• Most of the condos bought were in:
  • Downtown Ottawa - average sale price - $373,497 (previously $331,399 in May 2019) 

New Condo Listings Declining

• The number of new condo listings in the market decreased to 374 properties from 709 new properties listed in May 2019, a 47.2 per cent decrease. 

South, East, West and Central Ottawa Dominate the Housing Sales Market

• Based on the number of properties sold and average sale prices, below is the list of neighbourhoods are best selling places where many buyers are purchasing properties. This trend is giving sellers the advantages of selling their homes at above-market sale prices and owning their homes that have significantly increased in market value.