Real estate market still `relatively quiet' in Ottawa
But realtor says time is right for buyers to purchase their first home
The “dramatic” price difference between a single-family home and a townhouse/row unit sold in January may not be unusual but still represents a “great opportunity” for first-time homebuyers.
“I think a lot of younger people would just like to get into the game,” says John King, a license partner at Engel & Völkers Ottawa. “It's a great opportunity because I think there's a lot of room for growth in prices this year.”
The average home netted $631,722 in January, up 1.8 per cent year-over-year, the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) reports. The benchmark price for a single-family home was $703,500, up 3.7 per cent in that time. By comparison, the benchmark price for a townhouse/row unit was $462,200, down 2.1 per cent compared to a year earlier. The benchmark apartment price was $418,500, up 3.7 per cent year-over-year.
While King concedes the price difference between a single-family home and a townhouse/row unit is “dramatic,” he reminds buyers and sellers that the difference reflects a variety of variables, including location and the fact that townhouses/ row units in a typical neighbourhood are “cookie cutter.”
Today's average price is still up 42 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, when the average sale price hovered around $444,000 in December 2019, King notes. Prices peaked at about $757,000 in March 2022, dropped 20 per cent to about $606,000 by year's end and have since rebounded about five per cent to the current level, he reports.
The number of homes sold through the OREB'S MLS system totalled 629 in January. That's up 16.5 per cent year-over-year but 10.7 per cent below the five-year average and 3.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of January. “Ottawa's market activity is seeing positive gains over last year but it's still a relatively quiet market even by pre-pandemic standards,” says OREB president Curtis Fillier.
While realtors are reporting lots of showings, they're not all translating to sales. “This tells us that buyers are back out there looking but still approaching cautiously. During the pandemic market, buyers had to move quickly and sometimes settle for a property that didn't check all their boxes. Today, buyers are using the slower market to take the time needed to find their perfect place,” he says.
Fillier encourages sellers to adjust their expectations and “thoughtfully consider” their pricing and timing strategy using “hyper-local data.” OREB'S policy and external relations manager Brandon Reay reminds buyers and sellers that Ottawa's market conditions can “fluctuate quickly” because the city's supply is “chronically low.”
OREB reports nearly 1,300 new listings in January – a year-overyear increase of 7.3 per cent – for nearly 2,000 active listings. New listings were 17.5 per cent above the five-year average and 0.8 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of January.