A surge of interest in entry-level homes that had been introduced to Ottawa buyers was not enough to revive the city’s stagnant market when it came to October 2023 new-home sales.
There were 280 new homes sold for the month, according to the latest market report prepared by industry analyst PMA Brethour Realty Group on behalf of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association. While that’s up a whopping 169 per cent compared to the 104 homes sold last October, last year was a dismal one for sales and the homes sold this October are still well below the 10-year average of 427.
Sales were up over September, which is typical in the fall selling season, but they are unlikely to equal the number of homes sold cumulatively in 2022, a year that had a very strong start before the market collapsed. For the year to date, 2,206 homes have been sold, down 17 per cent compared to the 2,664 homes sold last year.
The October 2023 new-home sales indicate that numbers “are going in the right direction,” says PMA Ottawa president Cheryl Rice, but she acknowledges that with only two months remaining in the year, total sales are tracking to come in shy of the 2,827 homes sold in 2022, “even if November’s performance is as good as we expect.”
The bright spot for the month was the popularity of entry-level condo towns, which surged to 42 per cent of market share, largely thanks to the release of stacked back-to-back towns by Minto Communities at Anthem in Barrhaven. Generally, condo towns represent less than 10 per cent of homes sold.
“Product affordability continues to be the main concern for new-home buyers, especially first-time buyers,” says Rice. “That more condo town homes were sold than any other product type in October comes as no surprise and, in fact, the expectation was that this product type would capture significant market share.
“More condo town product is expected to be released in November to again help boost overall sales for the month.”
