The weather may have been on the cool side in June, but the month saw Ottawa new home sales on fire.
Sales almost doubled over the same month last year – up 90 per cent – and shot up 23 per cent per cent over May, at a time when home sales are typically starting to ease off as we head into summer. There were 702 new home sales in June, a record-breaking increase when compared to the 368 sold in June 2016, and way above the 570 sales in May, according to the latest report from industry analyst PMA Brethour Realty Group.
For the year to date, sales hit 2,900, up 24 per cent over the 2,333 sold in the same period last year. The 10-year average for sales between January and June is 2,447.
Yin and yang effect
“While the Toronto market cools, the Ottawa market heats up,” PMA Ottawa president Cheryl Rice says in a release, in reference to the effect recent Ontario government policy changes are having on Toronto’s long-overheated market. “It’s difficult to quantify the impact this yin and yang effect has had on Ottawa sales, but it’s definitely been positive.”
The strongest results were recorded in the south and west ends, which saw about two-thirds of new home sales. They were aided in part by the release of Minto’s Harmony development in Barrhaven – which sold out of its initial release within minutes of opening – and Bradley Commons in Stittsville, by Richcraft and Urbandale.
Singles and towns dominate
In terms of housing type, there was an almost even split between freehold townhomes and single-family homes, which continue to be the dominant homes of choice in the Ottawa market. They captured 45 and 43 per cent of the market respectively, with condo towns and apartments a distant third.
Mattamy (at 16 per cent) and Minto (at 17 per cent) continue to lead the pack in market share, with Richcraft (14 per cent) close behind. Richcraft is having a banner year so far, with sales far outpacing previous years.
“It’s been crazy the last two months,” Richcraft marketing manager Shawn Bellman said in June. “We’ve never done this amount of sales, ever.”
Rate increases
Despite this week’s move by the Bank of Canada to increase the prime rate – the benchmark by which the banks set their interest rates – for the first time in seven years, Rice does not see it having a dampening effect on sales.
“Assuming the Canadian economy continues to perform well, we expect that sales for Ottawa’s resale and new home markets will remain un-fluttered for the remainder of the year and into 2018,” she says.
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