Market Update: Ottawa housing market warms up in July

Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,326 residential properties in July through the Board's Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 1,116 in July 2010, an increase of 18.8 per cent. The five-year average for July sales is 1,377.



Of those sales, 307 were in the condominium property class, while 1,019 were in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, stacked etc.), which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties, which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.



"What a difference a year makes. Last summer the real estate market was reeling from the implementation of the HST that saw many buyers and sellers move up their purchases to the winter and early spring. 2011 is a different story, one that looks a lot more like the average year for Ottawa's resale housing market," said Board President-Elect Ansel Clarke.



The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in July in the Ottawa area was $341,330, an increase of 6.2 per cent over July 2010. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $270,933, an increase of 11.3 per cent over July 2010. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $362,539, an increase of 4.8 per cent over July 2010. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

courtesy of the Ottawa Real Estate Board.