Monday, June 8, 2015

The Ottawa resale market remains steady and strong in May


June 3, 2015 - Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,926 residential properties in May through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,789 in May 2014, an increase of 7.7 per cent. The five-year average for May sales is 1,812.

“The Ottawa housing market continued its strong performance in May, making it the best May for unit sales on record since 2009,” says David Oikle, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. “Units sold are up 357 since April, increasing in both the residential and condominium property class.”
May’s sales included 342 in the condominium property class, and 1,584 in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, stacked etc.), which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.

“The average cumulative days on market remains consistent at 72 days, compared to 74 last month,” says Oikle. “Properties are moving consistently and inventory remains plentiful; labelling the Ottawa market as a Buyers’ market and allowing for average sale prices to remain very stable.”

The average sale price of a residential-class property sold in May in the Ottawa area was $411,791, an increase of 2.6 per cent over May 2014. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $266,940, a decrease of 4.9 per cent over May 2014. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

“The hottest segments of our market for May were sales between $300,000 to $400,000, followed by the $200,000 to $300,000 range and then the $400,000 to $500,000 range,” says Oikle. “Two -storey residential properties sold surpassed 1,000 units this month, continuing to have the highest concentration of buyers in Ottawa. In addition to residential and condominium sales, OREB members assisted clients with renting 279 properties in May, and 1,155 since the beginning of the year.”

Visit bennettpros.com for all your real estate.