Ottawa, May 5, 2016 - Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,714 residential properties in April through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,567 in April 2015, an increase of 9.4 per cent. The five-year average for April sales is 1,568.
“The Ottawa resale market continued its steady pace upwards in April, making it the best April for unit sales on record since 2010,” says Shane Silva, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. “Units sold are up 548 since March, increasing in both the residential and condominium property class.”
April’s sales included 264 in the condominium property class, and 1,450 in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, townhouse, 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.
“In April, 3,644 homes were listed, up 13.8 per cent since March, and down by 2.8 per cent over April 2015,” says Silva. “Inventory levels at the end of the month remain healthy heading into, what is normally, the most active month of the year for Ottawa Real Estate Board Members.”
The average sale price of a residential-class property sold in April in the Ottawa area was $403,603, an increase of 0.2 per cent over April 2015. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $261,017, a decrease of 1.8 per cent over April 2015. 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.
“The hottest segments in our market for April were sales in the $300,000 to $400,000 price range, followed by the $200,000 to $300,000 price range,” says Silva. “Residential two-storey and bungalows have the highest concentration of buyers in April. In addition to residential and condominium sales, OREB Members have assisted clients with renting 937 properties since the beginning of the year.”
