The 2017 resale boom continued in Ottawa during November as buyers, likely spooked by the imminent tightening of mortgage rules, snapped up properties at a whirlwind pace.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) sold 1,239 residential properties through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service System (MLS) compared to 992 in the same month last year, according to OREB. That’s an increase of 24.9 per cent. The five-year average for November sales is 1,001.
Year-to-date sales are up more than 10 per cent over 2016, another sign of the 2017 resale boom.
November’s numbers are “not surprising,” said OREB president Rick Eisert in a statement. He noted that the recent announcement by the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions regarding new stress tests for low-ratio borrowers “may have buyers rushing into the market before the stricter mortgage regulations come into play in January 2018. If this keeps up, I expect December could be a busier than usual holiday season for Realtors.”
OREB’s report shows that condominiums, which have been moving briskly all year, continued to sell well in November. Condo sales grew more than 27 per cent compared to the same month in 2016, while other properties grew by 24 per cent.
Condo prices in November dipped 7.6 per cent from 2016, selling for an average $257,212 last month. Prices of other properties climbed 3.2 per cent over the same month last year, hitting an average $418,354.
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