Residential

Ottawa's 2020 CFO of the Year, who helped guide the REIT through a $230-million IPO in 2018, will retain her other role as chief financial officer of REIT's sister company, Minto Group.

The average price of a residential property in the capital was $550,933.75 at the end of August, down 1.1 per cent from a year earlier, real estate network says in its fall market outlook.

Builders in Ottawa-Gatineau started work on 1,374 new housing units last month, well off the all-time monthly high of 2,130 starts set in July.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in August was 267,443 units, down three per cent from 275,158 in July.

In its latest housing market outlook released Thursday, the association said it expects 532,545 properties to trade hands via Canadian MLS systems this year.

“Eventually, interest rates will go back down, and then people are going to (scramble) trying to buy everything up,” Paul Rushforth predicts, adding city could see “a mini version" of 2021's frenzy.

Ottawa realtors sold 1,137 residential properties in August, down 27 per cent from the 1,565 transactions a year earlier and well below the five-year average of 1,603.

Firm backed by billionaire tech magnate Terry Matthews says it hopes to start construction on the $120-million project, which will include a restaurant and about 250 apartment units, this fall.

Housing agency says work began on 2,130 new housing units in the National Capital Region last month, with multi-unit builds soaring almost 400 per cent year-over-year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the association says sales in July fell 5.3 per cent compared with June. The actual number of sales last month was 37,975, down 29 per cent compared with July last year.