Market Update
The Ottawa Real Estate Board reports 886 properties (residential & condominiums) sold in February 2024, approximately a 15.2% increase in homes sold when compared to February 2023 and approximately 40.9% more sales when compared to January 2023 (629 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 $628,500 in February 2024, up approximately 3.1% from February 2023, up approximately 1.1% from January 2024. Benchmark price for single family homes was $708,500, up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis when compared to February 2023. The benchmark price for a townhouse/row unit was $495,000, up slightly at 0.6%% compared to a year earlier. The benchmark apartment price was $417,000, representing a 2.7% increase from a year ago.
The average sale price for homes sold in February 2024 was $651,340, increasing 2% from February 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, February 2024)
For Kanata, unit sales in February 2024 (all housing types) were 76, translating to approximately a 4.1% increase when compared with February 2023. For greater Stittsville, unit sales in February 2024 (all housing types) were 52 units, representing approximately a 4% increase from February 2023. In Kanata, the average sale price in February 2024 was $684,336 for all housing types, essentially flat (-0.2%) when compared to February 2023. For greater Stittsville, the average sale price, February 2024 versus February 2023, decreased 2.2% to $743,023 for all housing types. (Source: Ottawa Real Estate Board Residential Market Activity and MLS® Home Price Index Report-Detailed, February 2024)
February residential inventory in Ottawa – 1,539 new properties (all housing types) on the market in February 2024, an increase of approximately 29.5% when compared to February 2023 and 10.3% above the five-year average for February. At the end of February, there were 2,158 homes for sale (all housing types), about a 16.3% increase when compared to the end of February 2023 and a 10% increase when compared to the end of January 2024 (1,961 active listings).
At the end of February 2024, Ottawa’s inventory of homes (all housing types) was 2.4 months, unchanged from the end of February 2023 (this is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity).
The Ottawa market is getting stronger. Demand is here, confidence is building and with the warmer weather, showing activity is increasing. Potential purchasers are following the market closely, watching for new properties on the market, sales in the neighborhoods their interested in and interest rates. With the Bank of Canada holding the policy interest rate again, it is a good time to check with your own mortgage broker and bank on their lending rates and terms, especially if you are looking to refinance or port your mortgage to the new property within the year. We are seeing some reductions in fixed interest rates and some reductions in rates with banks working with new build developments. If you are thinking of purchasing new, please contact us and we can update you on new developments.
Click here to read our Ottawa Market Update February 2024 – 50 Years of Change.
Source: Ottawa’s MLS® Market Activity Shows Strong Start to the Year, OREB, February 6, 2024)
