Ottawa house resale prices soar to 19 per cent with further reduced listings in January

The record-breaking residential and condo sales streak in the Ottawa real estate market came to an end in January, despite soaring average residential resale house prices to 19.3% at $516,200 compared to $432, 746 during the same month in 2019.

Here is how the momentum of the market went down in January:

 Reduced Residential Listings Available In the Market

• The number of residential listings in the market was significantly reduced to 1,413 properties from  2,186 properties listed in January 2020, 35.2 per cent decrease. This trend showed the reluctance among sellers to take advantage of selling their homes for the highest dollar possible due to the limited availability of homes for sale in the market for them to buy and move in. 

Reduced Residential Resale Home Sales

• Due to significant reductions in residential listings, 558 homes were sold in January 2020, a decrease of 8.4 per cent, compared to 609 properties sold in January 2019. 

• Despite the reduced listings, residential homes sold quickly on average from 72 days to 55 days on the market, which is about a 24.1 per cent decrease.

• Buyers bought residential homes in the $400,000 and $550,000 price range, which accounted for 40 per cent of the residential home sales. 

• Buyers bought mostly: 
  • Two-storey homes - average sale price - $537,510 (previously $465,248 in January 2019) 
  • Bungalows (1-story) - average sale price - $468,285 (previously $383,447 in January 2019) 
     

• Most of the residential homes were bought in:
  • Downtown Ottawa - average sale price - $676,467 (previously $563,570 in January 2019)
  • Kanata/Nepean - average sale price - $536,038 (previously $462,650 in January 2019)
  • Orleans - average sale price - $532,466 (previously $451,789 in January 2019)

Stable Sales in the Condo Market

• Due to significant reductions in condo listings, the condo market performed reasonably well with 222 condo units sold compared to 208 units sold in January 2020, a 6.7 per cent increase. 

• Similar to residential homes, condo units sold quickly on average from 73 days to 39 days on the market, which is a 46.9 per cent decrease. This shows a significant buyer demand in condos based on their price affordability compared to high prices of residential homes. 

• Buyers bought most of the condo units priced in the $200,000 - $350,000 price range, accounting for 55 per cent of the condo market. 

• The most sold condo units were:  
  • Two-storey homes - average sale price - $297,559 (previously $241,713 in January 2019)
  • One-level homes - average sale price - $356,595 (previously $305,091 in January 2019)

• Most of the condos bought were in:
  • Downtown Ottawa - average sale price - $383,855 (previously $319,115 in January 2019) 

Ottawa East, West and South Continued to Dominate In Average Price Increases For Single-Family Homes

Similar to December 2018, single-family homes in the eastern, southern and western parts of the city gained significant average price increases from January 2019. The district areas highlighted in red accounted for 43 per cent of the total home sales in January There’s a reason these six districts regularly account for nearly half of the city’s residential sales with significant price gains ranging from 7% to 31%. This is due to the reasonable supply of listings in the market and price affordability in those areas where prices have not yet reached the significant levels in established neighbourhoods of Westboro, Dow’s Lake, the Glebe, Civic Hospital and New Edinburgh where average prices range from $900,000 to $1,120,000.

Source: James Bagnall, Ottawa Citizen, @JamesBagnall1