Kris Sherry's Blog

OTTAWA RESALE HOME PRICES UP 8.9 % IN 2019

Posted on: January 14th, 2020 by Kris Sherry

Ottawa’s resale housing market enjoyed a record-breaking year in 2019 in both average sale prices and the number of properties sold.

In a press release looking back at our market in 2019, the Ottawa Real Estate Board reports the average resale price of a residential home in Ottawa was $486,590, up 8.9 % over the average price in 2018. The average sale price of a condominium unit in 2019, meanwhile, was $304,203, an increase of 9.3 % from the average price the year before. Though the number of sales listings in the Ottawa area was unusually low for much of 2019, the number of units sold reached a record-breaking high of 18,622 – up 6.6 % from the numbers in 2018, the Board reports. “2019 was a record breaker in both the number of sales as well as average prices, with the residential-property class reaching $500,000 in several months during the year,” Dwight Delahunt, the Board’s 2019 President, said in a statement.

“The price growth is warranted, due to the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand playing out, with limited supply putting upward pressure on prices,” he added.

“However, even with these increases, Ottawa’s real estate market continues to remain one of the most affordable and sustainable in the country.”

The total number of properties sold in 2019 included 14,038 residential-class properties (up 4.7 % from 2018) and 4,584 condominium-class properties (up 13 % from the number sold in 2018). Strong sales in the month of December nicely capped a healthy year, the Board reports.

Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 761 residential properties in December through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS) system. That was up 15.3 cent over the 660 properties sold in December of 2018, and well over the five-year average for December sales in our area, which is 720. The 227 condominium units sold in December represented an 18.8 % increase over the number sold in December of 2018. The number of residential-class properties sold in December, at 534, was up 13.9 % from the previous December, the Board reports.

“December’s statistics reflect the same story we’ve seen all year – historically low supply yet higher unit sales than in previous years,” Dwight Delahunt said.

“Days on market continued to decline, especially in certain pockets of the city, as properties that came on the market were snapped up by prepared buyers. Unit sales in the condominium class consistently led the way, offering lower price point options for homebuyers that simply weren’t available in the residential category,” he added. Looking at average sale prices for the month of December, the average price for a condo unit was $310,675 – up 11.5 % from December of 2018. The average sale price for a residential-class property in December was $500,306, an increase of 10.3 % from the average in December of 2018.

Deborah Burgoyne, the Ottawa Board’s President for 2020, says in the release it’s likely the Ottawa market in the coming year will continue to experience a lower than usual number of properties listed for sale but will also see reasonably increasing prices.

“Supply issues will surely persist into 2020, and I don’t expect the inventory will be able to recover in the near future,” she says.

As it always does, the Ottawa Real Estate Board cautions that while average sale prices can be useful in establishing trends over time, they should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. As with any city, prices and conditions in Ottawa vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

If you are considering buying or selling property in the Ottawa area in 2020, I’d love to chat with you more about our current market and conditions in your own neighbourhood or the area where you hope to buy.

Kris

 

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