As the months of November and December are known for being slowing due to the weather and preparations for the holidays, the Ottawa real estate numbers tell a different story. Not only are we seeing an increase in units sold but as well as selling prices.
Here are the November 2020 numbers:
- Total number of units sold: 1,611 – up 26% from 1,209 in November 2019.
- Five-year average unit sales for November: 1,257.
“We continue to experience strong activity in Ottawa’s resale market during the time of year when we would typically see a slowdown,” states Ottawa Real Estate Board President Deb Burgoyne. “Further, the pandemic overall did not slow down the resale market, and our year to date transactions are now on par with 2019.”
“I’m confident in saying that if we had more supply, sales would be even higher. Although new listings were up almost 400 units compared to last November and over 225 properties higher than the five-year average, there were 1,000 fewer new listings entering the market than we saw in October. Listings coming on in November do typically slow as potential Sellers turn their attention to the upcoming holiday season,” Burgoyne adds.
Here are the specifics for each property class:
- Number of residential-class properties sold: 1,209 – up 27% from 883 in November 2019.
- Average sale price of a residential-class property: $602,892 – up 20% from $482,314 in November 2019.
- Number of condominium-class properties sold: 402 – up 23% from 310 in November 2019.
- Average sale price of a condominium-class property: $361,758 – up 15% from $307,494 in November 2019.
“As far as average prices go, year to date prices are a more reliable indicator of what property values are doing over time, especially when we look at figures from the final quarter of the year. In November 2018, we saw a 3-5% gain in YTD average prices; a year later in 2019, they were up 9% for both property classes. Now in 2020, YTD average prices are 19-20% higher. This trajectory can be attributed to a concurrent decrease in inventory, which continues to be a challenge in our active market. The residential housing stock is 50% lower than last year at this time.”