This December, the real estate market experienced a usual downward trend as people turned their focus towards the holiday season.

 

Ottawa Real Estate Board President for 2021, Debra Wright, states, “although slightly above the five-year average, the number of properties exchanging hands was lower than the year before due to the atypical market we experienced in 2020 when peak market activity shifted to later in the year because of the initial spring pandemic lockdown.”

 

Ottawa Market Snapshot: December

 

Residential average sale prices increased by 17.6% from last December to $709,980. Condominium average sale prices were $399,125, which is a 12% increase.

The average days on market in the residential class experienced a 9.4% decrease to 22 days and 3.8% increase to 27 days for condominiums.

601 residential properties were sold, a decrease of 15%. Condominiums sold reached 261 which is a 10% decrease.

 

The 2021 Year to Date Ottawa Market Results

 

2021 Residential Sales Statistics

In 2021, the average sale price for a residential home was $719,605, an increase of 23.6% from 2020.

15,318 residential homes sold, +6.1% from the year prior, with an average of 14 days on the market, which is 35.3% fewer days than in 2020.

 

2021 Condominium Sales Statistics

Alternatively in 2021, Condominium average prices closed at $491,683, up 16.1% from 2020.

4,984 units of this property class sold, an increase of 10.4% from the year before averaging 19 days on market which only dropped by 0.2%.

 

Rina Gibbons, OREB Marketing and Communications, writes “The total number of residential and condo units sold throughout 2021 was 20,302, compared with 18,953 in 2020, increasing 7 per cent. Meanwhile, total sales volume in 2021 was approximately $13.1B compared to $10B in 2020.”

 

The Ottawa Real Estate Board’s Outlook for 2022

OREB’s 2022 President, Penny Torontow predicts, “January through March are usually slower months. With the macro factors that are currently at play in the resale market, it is difficult to predict what the effects will be going forward. We are entering yet another pandemic wave, Buyers are fatigued, parents are focusing on remote learning, interest rate hikes are looming – I don’t expect we will see the first quarter increases as we did in 2021.”

 

The Ottawa real estate market is expected to see an approximate 10% increase in house prices this year, according to economists, but the coming months will be indicative of this. This is unfortunate for buyers as it looks to stay a seller’s market this spring. Until much needed inventory comes on the market, it will remain unbalanced.

 

 

Important note: The Ottawa Real Estate board asks readers to exercise caution with these numbers. Although average sale prices can be useful in establishing trends over time, these results should never be used to evaluate the value of specific properties. Average sale prices are calculated on the total dollar volume of all properties sold. As always, prices and conditions will vary from property to property and different neighbourhoods in Ottawa.

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