The local housing market shows no sign of cooling down this fall, with the Ottawa Real Estate Board reporting a September resales surge in Ottawa of almost 12 per cent over the same month last year.
Board members sold 1,549 homes through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) System last month compared to 1,386 in September 2018. The five-year average for the month is 1,385.
“Despite a challenging year of historically low inventory, September’s sales continue to be extremely strong, the likes of which we haven’t seen in the past 15 years,” said board president Dwight Delahunt in a statement. “It’s quite amazing, with the limited supply, that the market is still moving well with purchasers finding properties that meet their requirements.”
Condos lead the charge
As has been the case for much of the past couple of years, condos contributed the most to the chunky sales increase. They were up over 26 per cent compared to the same month last year.
Sales of two-storey condos were especially hot, with a growth of over 61 per cent, possibly a reflection of the limited availability of new townhomes, which have been selling briskly because of their favourable price point.
Sales of non-condo properties were hardly anemic, with an increase of 6.9 per cent over September 2018. The biggest percentage increase was in three-storey homes.
Prices robust
The Ottawa resale market continues to perform well in terms of pricing (if you are a seller, that is).
The average condo price in September was $309,373, while the non-condo price was $487,438. Those numbers are up nine and eight per cent respectively over the same month last year. Prices for the year to date are up over eight per cent in both property classes compared to the same period in 2018.
“Now that condominium prices have recovered, we see condo sellers jumping back into the market to take advantage of that and, as a result, condo sales have been very robust and have again led the way in September’s unit sales,” said Delahunt.
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