Ottawa realtors continued to sell residential properties at a brisk pace in February, though the year-over-year increase tapered off last month after the market’s red-hot start to 2019.
A total of 1,005 homes changed hands in the capital last month, the Ottawa Real Estate Board said Tuesday. That’s a 2.8 per cent increase over February 2018 and well above the five-year average of 949.
While last month couldn’t match the 16 per cent spike in home sales the board reported in January, OREB president Dwight Delahunt said it’s a clear sign of more “favourable” activity to come for the resale market this spring.
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“Days on market continue to decline, and although inventory has fallen to its lowest level in many years, we are still managing to satisfy demand even with 900 fewer listings than this time last year,” Delahunt said in a statement. “If we had more supply, our unit sales would be even greater.”
February’s tally included 756 transactions in the residential property class, an increase of 3.8 per cent from a year ago. In addition, 249 condos changed hands in Ottawa last month, down slightly from 2018.
The average sale price of a residential-class property last month was $466,540, up 8.6 per cent over February 2018. Condos sold for an average of $288,354 in February, a jump of 5.6 per cent from a year earlier.
The $300,000-to-$449,999 range continued to be the most active price point in the residential market, accounting for nearly 44 per cent of February’s sales, while 26 per cent of residential sales were in the $500,000-to-$750,000 price range. Condos priced between $175,000 and $274,999 remained the most sought-after in that market segment, constituting 48 per cent of the units sold.
