Sales of new homes are up this year compared to 2023, causing the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association to predict a “positive tone” for the market going into the new year.
The association reported this week that new home sales in the region climbed 54 per cent in September from the same period the previous year, with 320 new homes sold. It’s a 40-per-cent jump from August, when 228 homes were sold.
“The strong sales growth in September speaks to the demand for new homes despite broader economic challenges,” said association executive director Jason Burggraaf in the report. “Buyers are tired of being on the sidelines, and are clearly recognizing opportunity in the current market.”
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To date this year, there have been 2,656 sales of new homes, compared to 1,943 during the same period in 2023. The homebuilders’ association says the increase indicates that the market has started to recover from a downward trend.
Ottawa’s south end, which typically sees the most activity, according to the report, once again led the way, with 48 per cent of houses sold within the area. The west end followed at 35 per cent, while the east end of the city came in at 16 per cent.
The majority of homes sold were townhouses, representing 57 per cent, followed by single homes and condos.
“The steady rise in new home sales throughout 2024 is a testament to the resilience of the Ottawa market,” said Burggraaf. “As buyers continue to get back into the market, we anticipate a robust close to the year, setting a positive tone for 2025.”
At the same time, new home construction in Ottawa has started to pick up.
Earlier this week, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported that Ottawa-Gatineau’s annual pace of housing starts rose 147 per cent in September compared to August. The national housing agency said the region’s monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in August was 22,031, up from 8,936 the previous month.
The annual pace of multi-unit urban starts rose 187 per cent to 20,064, compared to 6,984 in August. Single-unit starts, meanwhile, remained steady, rising one per cent to 1,967 in September, compared to 1,952 in August.
For the Ottawa-Gatineau area, it’s also an increase compared to the same time last year. Builders started work on 1,888 new housing units locally last month, a 26-per-cent increase from the 1,499 starts recorded in September 2023. Single-detached starts rose 12 per cent to 216 compared with the previous year, while multi-unit starts climbed 28 per cent to 1,672.
Starts in Ontario and B.C. lag nationally, CMHC reports
Nationally, CMHC says the annual pace of housing starts in September was up five per cent compared with August.
The agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 223,808 units in September, up from 213,012 in August. The increase came as the pace of starts in urban centres rose six per cent to 210,002 units in September, compared with 199,035 in August.
“Growth in actual year-to-date housing starts has been driven by both higher multi-unit and single-detached units in Alberta, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces,” said CMHC deputy chief economist Kevin Hughes in a statement.
“By contrast, year-to-date starts in Ontario and British Columbia have decreased across all housing types. Despite the increase in housing starts in September, we remain well below what is required to restore affordability in Canada’s urban centres.”
The rate of starts for urban multi-unit projects such as apartments, condominiums and townhouses increased six per cent to 163,400 units, while the pace of starts of urban single-detached homes rose five per cent to 46,602.
The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 13,806 units for September.
CMHC said the six-month moving average of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 243,759 units in September, down from 246,972 in August.
With files from The Canadian Press
