Ottawa Real Estate Market Watch – 2015 Record Breaking!!!

Well we are now midway through January 2016 already, and I am still having people ask me how 2015 was for the Ottawa Real Estate Market.  A valid question as the best indication of the future, is the past.  Some will tell you it was slow, that “nothing was selling”, “prices are dropping”, and “the market is going to crash”.  Well that’s a load of BS.  In fact, 2015 had the second highest number of sales for a year on record!!!

The following statistics are based on sales figures released by the Ottawa Real Estate Board  and include sales of both residential and condominium properties in the Greater Ottawa Area.

In December alone, the number of sales increased 9.3% over the number of sales in December 2014, and prices were up 3% from the previous year as well.

Total sales for 2015 were up 5.3% from 2014 and the average sale price was up 2.3% from the previous year.

So why are people thinking nothing is selling and prices are going down?  Well, one good reason is that we had a higher level of inventory than normal, so some homes sat on the market longer than normal.  Simply put, more people listed their homes.  Lots of good reasons to after all right?  With the low interest rates, one can afford to upgrade the size of their home for only a small increase in monthly payments.

It’s also important to realize that when the media is talking about Real Estate, they are generally referring to Canada as a whole.  Ottawa is much more stable, are average home prices are a fraction of that of most other major cities in the country, and our average household income is one of the highest.

This aint rocket surgery folks, its Real Estate, and Ottawa is a great place to be buying or selling.