OTTAWA

Ottawa home prices up 35 per cent in March as hot housing market continues

Josh Pringle CTV News Ottawa Producer and Digital Lead

Published Wednesday, April 7, 2021 2:22PM EDT

A for sale sign outside a home indicates that it has been sold, in Ottawa, on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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OTTAWA -- Ottawa's real estate market went out like a lion in March, with the average home price increasing 35 per cent from a year ago.

New statistics from the Ottawa Real Estate Board show the average price for a home was $758,802 last month. March's average condominium sale price was $437,041, an increase of 18 per cent from last year.

The number of properties sold is up more than 50 per cent from last year. A total of 2,285 residential properties sold in March through the Board's Multiple Listing Service System, compared with 1,514 in March 2020.

"A few factors contributed to the high number of resales in March," states Debra Wright, Ottawa Real Estate Board President. "Typically, real estate is heavily influenced by the weather, and we had remarkable and unseasonably warm temperatures last month, which facilitated Buyers’ ability to view and purchase homes."

Wright says there was a "significant uptick" in the number of new listings coming on to the market, with 2,798 listings last month.

"Ongoing pent-up Buyer demand meant that most of the properties that came on the market in March were quickly acquired," said Wright.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board says almost 80 per cent of the resales in the Ottawa area in March sold for more than the asking price, compared to 60 per cent at this time last year. Statistics show 14 per cent of homes sold for less than the list price.

YEAR-TO-DATE PRICES

The year-to-date average sale prices for a residential home is $729,897, up 32 per cent over 2020. The average sale price for a condo is $415,054, a 17 per cent year-to-date increase from last year.

"These accelerated price growths are purely a result of long-term inventory shortage," said Wright.

"I don’t believe that Ottawa’s market is by any means out of control but rather is coming into its own. However, until there is action at all three levels of government to resolve our supply challenges, our housing prices are not going to stabilize. And this phenomenon is not occurring in our market alone; housing stock scarcity is a nation-wide issue.”