By Maureen McEwan
As the summer drew to a close, the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) reported that home sales were down in August.
In a statement Sept. 6, OREB members reported that they sold 1,137 residential properties through the board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system this August, compared to 1,565 sold in August 2021—a 27 per cent decrease.
The sales included 850 residential properties, down 27 per cent compared to 2021, and 287 condominium properties, a decrease of 28 per cent from a year ago. The five-year average for August total sales is 1,603.
“August is a traditionally slower month in Ottawa’s resale market ebb and flow cycle due to summer vacations. Compounding the slowdown in market activity, [buyers] are uncertain about their purchasing power given impending additional interest rate hikes,” OREB President Penny Torontow stated Sept. 6.
“The lightning speed at which homes were selling at the start of 2022 is a thing of the past, evidenced by Days on Market (DOMs) inching closer to that 30-day mark. We have also observed a return to standard financing and inspection conditions and fewer multiple offer scenarios,” Torontow added.
Condominiums saw an average sale price of $421,966 this August, a 4 per cent increase from last year. For residential properties, the average sale price in August was $707,712, a 5 per cent increase from August 2021.
Year-to-date average sale prices were $795,978 for residential properties and $457,771 for condominiums—as reported by the OREB Sept. 6—marking a 10 per cent and 9 per cent increase, respectively, over the 2021 averages.
Torontow suggested that the Ottawa real-estate market is moving towards a “balanced” state.
“Prices are still rising slightly in some areas, albeit lower single-digit percentage increases, bringing back the moderate price-growth stability that is characteristic of the Ottawa resale market. What happened to prices in 2020 and 2021 was unusual. We are moving towards a balanced market state, where [buyers] have choices and [sellers] need to ensure they are pricing their properties accurately,” Torontow stated.
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