Market Update
The Ottawa Real Estate Board reports 629 properties (residential & condominiums) sold in January 2024, approximately a 16.5% increase in homes sold when compared to January 2023 and approximately 2.5% less when compared to December 2023 (645 units sold).
The Ottawa Real Estate Board will now be using the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) to track changes in the real estate market (this tool is used by Canadian Real Estate Association across Canada). We will start to use this measurement and also provide some average data for Ottawa. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $621,600 in January 2024, down approximately 0.4% from December 2023, up 3.2% from January 2023. Benchmark price for single family homes was $703,500, up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis when compared to January 2023. The benchmark price for a townhouse/row unit was $462,200, down 2.1% compared to a year earlier. The benchmark apartment price was $418,500, representing a 3.7% increase from a year ago.
The average sale price for homes sold in January 2024 was $631,722, an increase of 1.8% from January 2023. Keep in mind, its important to look at what is happening in your neighborhood and with comparable homes. (Source: Ottawa Real Estate Board, Residential Market Activity & MLS® Home Price Index Report – Highlight, January 2024)
For Kanata, unit sales in January 2024 (all housing types) were 58, translating to approximately a 23.4% increase when compared with January 2023. For greater Stittsville, unit sales in January 2023 (all housing types) were 49 units, representing approximately a 104.2% increase from January 2023. In Kanata, the average sale price in January 2024 was $714,210 for all housing types, an 11.8% increase when compared to January 2023. For greater Stittsville, the average sale price, January 2024 versus January 2023, increased 6.1% to $732,577 for all housing types. (Source: January 2024 – Ottawa Real Estate Board Residential Market Activity and MLS® Home Price Index Report-Detailed, January 2024)
January residential inventory in Ottawa – 1,271 new properties (all housing types) on the market in January, 2024, an increase of approximately 7.3% when compared to January 2023 and 17.5% above the five-year average for January. At the end of January, there were 1,961 homes for sale (all housing types), about a 4.5% increase when compared to the end of January 2023 and a 6.3% increase when compared to December 2023 (1,844 active listings).
At the end of January 2024, Ottawa’s inventory of homes (all housing types) was 3.1 months, a decrease from 3.5 months at the end of January 2023 (this is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity).
With the Bank of Canada holding the policy interest rate in January, some banks and lenders starting to reduce some mortgage rates, and property showings increasing, it is encouraging. If you are planning to purchase this year, now is the time to get your financing in order and obtain a mortgage pre-approval so you are ready when the right home comes along. Timing is often key, think of when you want to be in your next home, make a time line from that month back to now, so you can plan the steps to take. For example if you need to sell your present home to purchase and want to be in your next home in the early Summer then start to get your home ready now and obtain a market evaluation. Click here to read our Ottawa Market Update January 2024 – 50 Years of Change.
Source: Ottawa’s MLS® Market thawed in January but sales still slow, OREB, February 6, 2024)
