Condo Sales Keep Market from Over Heating

Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 2,070 residential properties in June through the Board's Multiple Listing Service System, compared with 2,163 in June 2017, a decrease of 4.3 percent. The five-year average for June sales is 1,914. June's sales included 455 in the condominium property class, an increase of 11.5 percent from June 2017 and 1,615 in the residential property class, a decrease of 8 percent from a year ago.

The first half of 2018 has performed very well with the number of year to date residential sales almost identical to this time last year. Condo unit sales have led the way, increasing by 16.8 percent over the same period.

The robust condo numbers are likely fueled by lack on inventory, (5,240 versus 6,179 at this time last year) particularly in the lower price points of the single-family resale market. For example, in the first half of the year there has been a decrease of 37 percent in the number of single-family units sold at the $250-275K price point and a 41 percent decrease for the $275-300K price range, whereas there is a corresponding increase in condo sales of 49 percent and 22 percent respectively for those same price.

The year to date average Days on Market (DOM) for residential homes has decreased 18 percent from 46 days in 2017 to 37 days currently. For condos, the DOM has decreased for 71 days to 52 days, a 27 percent decrease from June 2017.

The average sale price of a residential-class property sold in June in the Ottawa area was $449,200, an increase of 3.4 percent over June 2017. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $293,303, an increase of 1.2 percent from June 2017. Year to date, residential properties have seen a 5.2 percent increase in average price with 1.1 percent price increase for condominiums.

The sales to list ratio remains effectively unchanged since last month at 98.4 percent.