Ottawa’s July 2023 resale market gave solid signs that the coming months can be viewed with optimism, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board.
After a year-plus softening of the market, attributed in part to rising interest rates, Realtors in July sold 1,263 residential properties through the board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS). That was up 15 per cent from the 1,102 homes sold in the same month last year.
The July 2023 resale market saw 979 non-condo properties change hands, up 18 per cent from a year ago, and 284 condominiums, up six per cent from last year. The five-year average for total unit sales in July is 1,621.
“Both transactions and average prices are up from last July, indicating consumers remain confident in the market notwithstanding the two recent quarter-per cent interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada,” said board president Ken Dekker in a statement. “We’re only a month into the third quarter, but based on July’s positive indicators, we are likely to see solid year-over-year results in the second half.”
Prices and inventory climbing
The average sale price for a non-condo property in July was $754,188. Condominiums sold for an average of $435,094. Those prices were up five and two per cent respectively from the same month last year, although down marginally from June 2023.
Months of inventory — 2.7 for non-condos and 2.9 for condominiums — were down slightly from last year, while days on market increased to 26 and 28 respectively.
“Although we are in a sellers’ market again, the pandemic’s frenzy has calmed considerably,” said Dekker. “Sellers need to manage their expectations with true market activity — not every property will automatically see multiple offers or immediate sales. Ultimately, a property’s price is determined by how much a buyer is willing to pay.”
In a related development, a recent report by international real estate company Engel & Völkers said Canadian luxury real estate continues to show strong and stable growth in the country’s most in-demand metropolitan markets.
The company reports that in Ottawa, premium market prices ticked up by three per cent for homes valued between $1 million and $3.99 million from January to June of this year. By contrast, OREB reports that average prices for non-condominium properties declined by nine per cent in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period in 2022 and condominium prices were down six per cent.
