The March numbers for residential real estate in Ottawa are — once again — up from the previous month.
“There was a significant uptick in the number of new listings that came onto the market. This total (2,798) was higher than the 5-year listing average, which hadn’t happened since July 2020, when the first lockdown ended. Ongoing pent-up Buyer demand meant that most of the properties that came on the market in March were quickly acquired.” said Ottawa Real Estate Board President Debra Wright in OREB’s March 2021 update.
Here are some important numbers:
- Sales were up 51% from last year, but aren’t representative of the actual year-over-year increase, since the first stay-at-home order was announced mid-way through last March and sales slowed as a result.
- HOWEVER, sales last March were 1,514 and sales in March 2019 were 1,511 — almost neck in neck — which means that the AVERAGE increase year-over-year since March 2019 would be approximately 25%, which is still well above historical year-over-year increases.
- 80% of the resales in Ottawa sold for over asking this March, compared to 60% last March, with 6% selling at the list price and 14% selling below.
- The average price of a condominium-class property in March was $437,041, an increase of 18% year-over-year.
- The average price of a residential-class property in March was $729,897, an increase of 35% year-over-year.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board has published that the price growths are purely a result of long-term inventory shortages and won’t cool until all three levels of government intervene. If you look at the cost of building supplies and the popularity of our community for its affordable housing, as well as the lack of punitive taxes for foreign investors, this also helps explain the continued record-breaking gains in the housing market.
The market is changing from week to week, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team directly to help you pinpoint the time to make an offer or list your home for success.
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