Here are the April 2021 numbers:
- Total number of units sold: 2,402 – up 164% from 911 in April 2020.
- Five-year average unit sales for April: 1,830
“As the typical spring market ramped up, April was poised to be the strongest on record with over 3,200 new listings of properties for sale. Most of these properties entered the market before the province’s stricter lockdown order was announced midway through the month. At that point, the trajectory sputtered, and while it continued to be active, it followed a noticeable decline as Sellers responded to the government’s resolution to reduce the spread of Covid-19,” states Ottawa Real Estate Board President Debra Wright.
“As I had cautioned last month, the percentage increases over 2020 figures are vastly skewed due to the first State of Emergency last spring, which had initially slowed down the real estate market. Thus, the 155 to 166 percent increases in unit sales are simply not valid results. We recorded 2,026 sales in April 2019 and 2,024 in April 2018. These figures provide a more reasonable comparison, which is a 19% increase in overall sales compared to those pre-pandemic years.”
Here are the specifics for each property class:
- Number of residential-class properties sold: 1,859 – up 166% in April 2020.
- Average sale price of a residential-class property: $743,204 – up 42% in April 2020.
- Number of condominium-class properties sold: 543 – up 155% from 203 in April 2020.
- Average sale price of a condominium-class property: $427,145 – up 30% in April 2020.
“These accelerated price increases boil down to a lack of supply and will continue to be a challenge for Buyers until more inventory becomes available – it’s fundamental supply and demand economics. Certainly, April’s substantial increase in new listings, 19% higher than the five-year listing average and over 400 units more than the previous month, gives us cautious optimism. When the Stay-at-Home order concludes, we hope that pent-up supply will bring some much-needed housing stock to the resale market,” suggests Wright.