Residential

The housing market outlook from economist Rishi Sondhi attributes the prediction to the poorest affordability level since the late 80s and early 90s.

Overall, home sales in Ottawa fell 25 per cent in 2022 from the previous year, with a total of 15,288 properties changing hands, compared with 20,289 in 2021.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts – a six-month rolling average designed to smooth out monthly fluctuations – was 14,691 units last month, down from 19,607 in October.

The association said Thursday the move lower more than erased the gain seen in October and resumed the overall trend lower for the year.

The real estate company says the aggregate price in Ottawa will rise to $739,602 by the end of next year, up from an estimated $725,100 this year.

It marked the ninth consecutive month that home sales in the capital declined compared with a year earlier.

In the report released Tuesday, Re/Max Canada says it expects the average sale price of a home in Ottawa to rise to $683,000 next year, up from just under $657,000 at the end of October.

With foot traffic in downtown Gatineau showing the biggest decline in Canada during the pandemic, Brigil VP Jessy Desjardins believes his firm can play a big part in reversing that trend over the next decade.

The report by CMHC deputy chief economist Aled ab Iorwerth says the scale of the problem is so large that the private sector must be involved.

The idea of turning offices that are past their best-before dates into apartments or condominiums is hardly novel, but real estate experts say the conversion trend is gaining momentum in Ottawa.