Ottawa Real Estate MARKET UPDATE! First Quarter 2019

Ottawa is averaging an 8.8% increase in population year over year(Ont. & Can both under 6%).  If you have been reading my market updates at all, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Ottawa is doing so well.  After 2 years in a row as The #1 City to Live in in Canada, Ottawa dropped to #2 in 2018. Its certainly no longer a secret.  Out of town buyers are still flocking here because of our low prices and all our great city has to offer.  The following statistics are from the Ottawa Real Estate Board:

January started us off with RECORD breaking sales being 15.8% more than 2018!  Leading the rush there was condos being 20.8% more units being sold than in 2017, and the average price rising 7.7% over 2018.  Already having dwindling inventory on our market, this was sure to have a ripple effect on the months to come.  

Feb showed the number of unit sales only moderately increasing(2.8%), over 2018 but this led to a bit of a nicer increase in value instead with residential homes up 8.6% and condos up 5.6% from one year before.  We are doing well to keep up with the demand, even though we had 900 less units available as compared to 2018.  

March is starting to show a little bit more of the ripple effect from January’s high number of sales.  The low inventory, combined with an ever lasting winter and record snowfall, that made it a challenge for many to get the “spring market” officially started.  The number of sales decreased 8.6% from that of March 2018.  Contributing to this was a 12.4% decrease from the residential class, and a 5.5% increase from condos.  Again, this low inventory is helping drive up prices in both classes and residential homes were up 7.2% over 2018 to $480,143, and condos up 5.5%. 

If you are thinking of buying or selling, now is an EXCELLENT time and with these market conditions, it is ESSENTIAL to have the guidance of a Realtor.  Some Sellers are walking away with 10’s of thousands less than they could have gotten, and some Buyers are paying more than they should, or not even getting homes that they want/need.