March 2010 Ottawa Real Estate Board Market Report for February 2010

A Great Start to 2010 for Ottawa’s Housing Market

March 5, 2010 : A Great Start to 2010 for Ottawa’s Housing Market

Source: OREB

Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,118 residential properties in February through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 787 in February 2009, an increase of 42.1 per cent.

Of those sales, 323 were in the condominium property class, while 795 were 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.

“Last month’s sales were near the top of the usual range for this time of year, as opposed to February of 2009, which was the end of the brief slowdown we saw in Ottawa’s resale housing market due to global economic conditions,” said Board President Pierre de Varennes. “So far in 2010, OREB Members have sold 1,838 properties, putting us well ahead of the 1,316 properties sold in the first two months of 2009. Inventory remains low and the homes that are listed are selling quickly, keeping Ottawa in a seller’s market for the moment,” he added.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in February in the Ottawa area was $317,030, an increase of 15.8 per cent over February 2009. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $265,938, an increase of 30.3 per cent over February 2009. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $337,788, an increase of 15.6 per cent over February 2009. 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 Ottawa Real Estate Board is an industry association of 2,540 sales representatives and brokers in the Ottawa area. Members of the Board are also members of the Canadian Real Estate Association and thus are entitled to use the term REALTOR®.

The MLS® system is a member based service, paid for by the REALTOR® members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. The MLS® mark symbolizes the cooperation among REALTORS® to effect the purchase and sale of real estate through real estate services provided by REALTORS®. MLS® commercial and residential listings are available for viewing on the Board’s internet site at www.OttawaRealEstate.org and on the national websites of The Canadian Real Estate Association at www.REALTOR.ca and www.ICX.ca. Information about listings and open houses is also available in the Board’s weekly newspaper, Ottawa Real Estate Guide, available free at 700 locations across the Ottawa area and now online at www.OttawaRealEstateGuide.ca.

Low Inventory in Ottawa - Strong Sellers Market

Last month (September) the City of Ottawa experienced yet again another record month. This of course is creating a very strong sellers market.

After reading an article yesterday in our local newspaper "The Other Citizen" intitled "Area realtors scramble for listings" explaining how inventory is very low in the city and that most realtors have no more listings of their own.

I am very suprised that people are still asking me "What is the best time to sell my home in Ottawa?" and some even saying "I'll wait until the right time to get top dollars for my property"

People, People! NOW is the time to sell!

Because the inventory is low the prices of homes in Ottawa have been pushed higher. It's the basics of supply and demand. Last month's average price in Ottawa was $304,789 a 5.7% increase from a year earlier.

Please don't wait and give me a call today for your free home evaluation. 613-889-7732

Now is a Great Time to Sell

Homeowners in Ottawa are staying put, leaving real estate agents scrambling to find listings and creating one of the strongest seller's markets the nation's capital has seen in years. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Area+realtors+scra...mble+listings/2070130/story.html - Do you need more convincing? Now is a great time to sell! Call me today.

Ottawa Real Estate Market Update

OTTAWA – August 27, 2009 – MLS® home sales were much stronger than expected in the second quarter of 2009, with activity having climbed throughout the quarter and into July. The remarkable recovery of resale housing has prompted a change to the MLS® home sales forecast issued by The Canadian Real Estate Association for 2009 and 2010.

The speed and magnitude of the rebound in sales activity to date has lifted CREA’s national forecast for the number of transactions to 432,600 units. This represents an annual decline in activity of 0.4 per cent compared to levels set in 2008, and is a significant upward revision from the previously forecast decline of 14.7 per cent in CREA’s forecast issued last May.

“Sales activity started off the third quarter on a strong footing,” said CREA President Dale Ripplinger. “The difference in the resale housing market now, compared to the beginning of the year, is night and day, and nowhere is this more evident than in the West.”

British Columbia and Ontario are now forecast to post annual increases in activity this year, reflecting weak demand last year and a subsequent rebound. Forecast declines in annual activity were trimmed significantly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec, and were also shaved for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

National MLS® home sales activity is forecast to rise 5.3 per cent to 455,400 units in 2010. This is a smaller rise in activity than previously forecast. “Low interest rates are boosting sales by returning homebuyers to the market who moved to the sidelines late last year, and shifting ” said Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “Buyers are also shifting purchase decisions forward as they take advantage of attractive interest rates now before financing costs increase.”

New listings have been edging down from record levels, with many sellers taking their home off the market pending an improvement in housing market conditions. Average price increases in the second half of 2009 are likely result in a mild rebound in listings in 2010.

The national MLS® average home price is forecast to edge up 1.5 per cent in 2009, as the strong rebound in sales activity, not price, in some of Canada’s most expensive markets continues to skew the national, and some provincial, average prices upward. Alberta is the only province with a forecast decline in average price in 2009 (-4.4 per cent). Average prices are forecast to rise in all other provinces except British Columbia, where average price in 2009 is forecast to remain stable. CREA’s previous forecast predicted a decline in the national average price of 5.2 per cent in 2009.

Average prices are forecast to stabilize over the rest of 2009 and into 2010, but weak results in the first quarter of 2009 will result in a lower annual average price this year compared to 2010. The national average price is forecast to be up 2.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis in 2010.

The price trend is similar but less dramatic for the weighted national MLS® average price, which compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. The weighted national MLS® average price is forecast to climb 1.4 per cent in 2009, with a further 1.7 per cent rise in 2010. CREA previously forecast that the weighted national average price for MLS® homes sales would hold steady from 2009 to 2010.

“The speed with which the Canadian resale housing market has rebounded is unprecedented,” said Klump. “The economic recovery is expected to be slow and protracted, so the dramatic swings in activity seen in late 2008 and this year are unlikely to be repeated in 2010.”

For the full news release, please click here: http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/pdfs/aug09rpt.pdf

For further information, please contact:
Alyson Fair, Publicist
The Canadian Real Estate Association
200 rue Catherine Street, Ottawa, ON
K2P 2K9
Tel: (613) 237-7111 X 2284 Cell: (613)884-1460
afair@crea.ca