Ottawa-Gatineau Housing Market

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Clearly many private sector companies give cost of living increases (maybe this is less common with small businesses).

While it wasn't too far in the past that public sector workers were underpaid, I think the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Unions have become adept at getting extra increments (effectively getting increases well above inflation) and gaming arbitration processes.

And back on topic, these increases are clearly skewing the local housing market. With interest rates rising housing prices should be stabilizing.

Yes without getting too deep in the weeds on public vs private salaries suffice to say there are a lot of people making at a pretty young age a good salary in Ottawa. In fact in the 30-35 year old age group many seem to be ahead of their counterparts in Toronto (Bay street aside).

My EC5 example was real. A neighbour who said both he and his wife are lowly EC5s so couldn't afford to live in a central neighborhood so would have to move out to the suburbs as they didn't want something attached. A couple of years later they did buy a single family house in Old Ottawa south that was in the $800k+ range. My point is if a lot of these high earning 30 something government workers decide to borrow their maximum our market could really catch fire.

There are also probably hundreds of young millionaires at Shopify alone and if they start cashing in their vested options we could see a burst in the high end condo market.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Yes without getting too deep in the weeds on public vs private salaries suffice to say there are a lot of people making at a pretty young age a good salary in Ottawa. In fact in the 30-35 year old age group many seem to be ahead of their counterparts in Toronto (Bay street aside).

My EC5 example was real. A neighbour who said both he and his wife are lowly EC5s so couldn't afford to live in a central neighborhood so would have to move out to the suburbs as they didn't want something attached. A couple of years later they did buy a single family house in Old Ottawa south that was in the $800k+ range. My point is if a lot of these high earning 30 something government workers decide to borrow their maximum our market could really catch fire.

I have the opposite impression. It seems to me a lot of government recruits are older, and it takes several years to get into the system, get promoted, etc. And there are not a lot of 30-35 year olds with money to burn.

I am also not sure your DINK neighbours are very typical. Even if they are at the top of their salary band, mortgage and property taxes are going to be over 50% of take home pay. I am not sure many people want to be that stretched just to live in a prestigious neighbourhood.

But clearly we know different sorts of people.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I have the opposite impression. It seems to me a lot of government recruits are older, and it takes several years to get into the system, get promoted, etc. And there are not a lot of 30-35 year olds with money to burn.

I am also not sure your DINK neighbours are very typical. Even if they are at the top of their salary band, mortgage and property taxes are going to be over 50% of take home pay. I am not sure many people want to be that stretched just to live in a prestigious neighbourhood.

But clearly we know different sorts of people.

No I totally agree not many people in Ottawa even at that income level are choosing to max out and spend that much whereas in Toronto they are as they have no other choice. Like a post in this thread said they don't act dress etc. like people making nearly $100k even when many are.

This couple who has two kids imho has still made a good choice. They bike to work and their kids walk to one of the best schools in the city. Easily an extra hour with their kids everyday and a healthy free commute. So half their take home is housing their remaining salary is still the city household income average as per a previous post so they aren't exactly living hand to mouth. With big government pensions some financial risks make sense.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

No I totally agree not many people in Ottawa even at that income level are choosing to max out and spend that much whereas in Toronto they are as they have no other choice. Like a post in this thread said they don't act dress etc. like people making nearly $100k even when many are.

This couple who has two kids imho has still made a good choice. They bike to work and their kids walk to one of the best schools in the city. Easily an extra hour with their kids everyday and a healthy free commute. So half their take home is housing their remaining salary is still the city household income average as per a previous post so they aren't exactly living hand to mouth. With big government pensions some financial risks make sense.

I understand school district is a factor that can overrule other considerations. However, I would not say that somebody spending 50-60% of their disposable income on one item is acting like their income. I'm sure they could also afford a porsche. I'm not criticizing them, but I am also not faulting people who are more comfortable spending 30-40% of their disposable income on housing and having more money for hobbies, travel, renovations, recreation, savings, etc.

[jcphoenix]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Step increments (left to right on the table) are done annually - in addition to the generalized annual increase (top to bottom on the table).

Public sector wages have gone up pretty dramatically in recent years.

Which wages are you talking about? From my perspective, we've lost some of our buying power. The last collective agreement for example, that was negotiated two years after the previous one expired for the PA, SV, EB, and TC groups for 2014-2018, gave us a 1.25% increase per year, with one additional year where there was a 0.5% increase. That's under inflation for those years versus MPs who gave themselves 3% a year. On top of that of course, the salaries were essentially flat during the years while that was being negotiated, and many of us still haven't been paid fully for that agreement, despite the fact that we are way past the 180-day deadline the government had to handle that (which expired sometime in November I believe), and that the agreement expires this June so...here we go again.

Also agreed that an EC-5 as mentioned previously by you and DogswithJobs, is not an entry-level position. I don't know why nortey35 thinks that someone "starting at 60k will be making 94k a year after 4 years". The EC-5 steps range from $82000 to $94000. As mentioned, obviously not an entry-level position.

That's not my group but I've been in government for 8 years now and I'm not making that amount or close to it.

[nortey35]

Originally Posted by jcphoenix

I don't know why nortey35 thinks that someone "starting at 60k will be making 94k a year after 4 years". The EC-5 steps range from $82000 to $94000. As mentioned, obviously not an entry-level position.

That's not my group but I've been in government for 8 years now and I'm not making that amount or close to it.

I was looking at the increments vertically. Thinking of someone starting in EC01 every year will go to a new EC level in increments of one, ending in EC05 after 4 years. But that wasn't the case. I understand now every year is a new step within the same EC level, and only after promotion (that can happen at anytime?) is that it goes to the next EC level.

[jcphoenix]

Originally Posted by nortey35

I was looking at the increments vertically. Thinking of someone starting in EC01 every year will go to a new EC level in increments of one, ending in EC05 after 4 years. But that wasn't the case. I understand now every year is a new step within the same EC level, and only after promotion (that can happen at anytime?) is that it goes to the next EC level.

Ah, that makes sense - it's definitely confusing if you're not used to the way the government bumps/steps work.

[Vixx]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I have the opposite impression. It seems to me a lot of government recruits are older, and it takes several years to get into the system, get promoted, etc. And there are not a lot of 30-35 year olds with money to burn.

I am also not sure your DINK neighbours are very typical. Even if they are at the top of their salary band, mortgage and property taxes are going to be over 50% of take home pay. I am not sure many people want to be that stretched just to live in a prestigious neighbourhood.

But clearly we know different sorts of people.

Agree.

As someone really looking to break into the public sector, its a ridiculously long and slow process where it takes years to build yourself up into having a respectable salary. Never mind the difficulty of even breaking into the public sector and finding a stream with a steady upward mobility path.

My former roommate works in a government branch with a relatively niche specialization. He just hit 30 and has been stuck at the same pay scale for a couple of years and doesn't see much mobility or promotions without speaking French. Along with the bureaucracy and time it takes to even get an internal promotion, its not easy.

Point I'm trying to make here is that I don't think its the late 25-35 year old government workers making a comfortable enough salary to be able to afford single family homes, as they are still just trying to break into the system and get their careers on track. The ones with money in that age group are likely in tech, maybe trades or ones who have finished a professional degree such as law. The first time buyer demographic is shrinking in the 25-35 year old category and it sucks to see.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa’s red-hot housing market is country’s most active

Adam Stanley, Ottawa
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published May 9, 2018, 4 hours ago

Casey Van Camp and her partner are moving into their first home together this month, but the process wasn’t without its challenges.

Ms. Van Camp is just one of many Ottawa-area buyers who have had to adjust to the unfamiliar in the local real estate market so far in 2018 – with bidding wars, homes being sold well over their asking prices and unconditional offers becoming the norm. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, Ottawa is one of the strongest real estate markets in the country, with home sales up more than 10 per cent so far this year, even as sales have dived by more than 23 per cent nationally.

Ms. Van Camp bought in Carlsbad Springs, a rural community only 20 minutes from Ottawa’s downtown after starting her search in November.

“It was slim pickings from the get-go,” Ms. Van Camp says.

They bid on, and lost, two other houses, and nearly lost this one as well. There was an offer accepted prior to Ms. Van Camp’s, but the financing fell through and they had just hours to decide whether they wanted to try again.

They ended up getting their three-bedroom, two-bathroom house – sitting on nearly 1.5 acres – for $16,000 more than the asking price.

According to Ms. Van Camp’s agent, Harrison Gallon of Engel and Voelkers Ottawa Central, the listings in Carlsbad Springs in 2017 all sold below asking and had been on the market “forever.”

“This year when they were starting to look, they were competing with multiple offers,” Mr. Gallon says. “That’s not usually a hot area – but it is now.”

The first home Ms. Van Camp tried to put an offer on ended up selling for more than $30,000 over asking in the same neighbourhood, according to Mr. Gallon.

“We were shocked,” Ms. Van Camp says.

CREA says Ottawa is bucking the national trend thanks to steady employment and higher-than-average wages.

“There are 1.4 million people in Ottawa-Gatineau with above-average purchasing power, below-average unemployment and de-facto tenure,” says Ian Lee, an associate professor at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University in Ottawa. “It all adds up to a very stable real estate market.”

According to recent census data, Ottawa-Gatineau has the highest median household income in the country at more than $86,000, and the public sector in the city has grown since the new Liberal government was elected in 2015, Mr. Lee says.

“The way I like to put it to my students is that everyone else who doesn’t work for the government in Ottawa is in some way servicing the government.”

Ms. Van Camp, for example, works for a staffing company that consults for the federal government.

“It’s not inexplicable why Ottawa’s real estate market stands out as unique, it’s simply because of the pervasiveness of the public sector. The government is the single-largest employer without a doubt, but it’s not just the government. The City of Ottawa employs 20,000 people. Carleton University employs [6,300] people. The Ottawa Hospital and all its campuses have 11,000 … they’re all little cities,” says Mr. Lee, who points to all these industries – most of which feature unionized employees – as ones that don’t see many layoffs.

Ottawa-Gatineau’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.8 per cent in March, according to Statistics Canada, the lowest in a decade.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) says sales increased year-over-year by more than 12 per cent in March, while listings are staying on the market for an average of 43 days versus 54 days a year ago. Inventory is falling below normal average because listings are just not staying on the market as long, and baby boomers are deciding to stay in their homes longer, according to Ralph Shaw, the president of the OREB.

“We’ve seen it over the last 18 months as intense as I’ve seen it in a long, long time,” Mr. Shaw says of the Ottawa market.

But Ottawa’s average home price remains close to $450,000 for a single-family home. Mr. Lee says it’s not as if the homes are priced out of obtainability, especially with such high wages.

He says the market is hot because of a classic economics problem.

“There is no magic to this,” he says. “Markets are rational – there are people who disagree with me, but when you see sudden spikes, I don’t care if it’s in gold or wheat or potash or housing, it’s because there is an imbalance of supply and demand.”

The Greater Ottawa Builders’ Association built 7,400 homes a year ago, a record for the past 25 years, Mr. Shaw says. However, this year they are on track to only build 6,000.

Bruce Firestone, the founder of the Ottawa Senators of the NHL, real estate developer and former entrepreneur-in-residence at Ottawa University, says the City of Ottawa has put a stop to urban expansion, which means no new land will be developed – another factor in the decreased supply. At the same time, densification is rising in the downtown core as the city’s new light-rail transit system comes on-stream.

Mr. Lee says the new Liberal government has “turned on the hiring jets.” The federal government alone added 2,300 jobs in March. The number of employed residents in Ottawa hit more than 736,000 that month, an all-time high.

“The confidence level is up in Ottawa in terms of jobs,” says Frank Napolitano of Mortgage Brokers Ottawa. “Ottawa has always been a stable real estate market and even when the market is really, really hot you’re still paying close to list price. But now it’s like you have to put an offer in in [your] car because if you go home and think about it the house is gone.”

The supply crunch can be felt in Ottawa’s west end, as the Department of National Defence has begun to move its headquarters from downtown to Kanata, about 25 minutes to the west. This has impacted the supply of homes in the area, as 8,500 of the 16,000 employees – said to be one of Canada’s largest office moves – are heading across town for work.

The tech sector is another of the engines of economic growth in Ottawa that are “humming along,” according to Mr. Firestone. The Information and Communications Technology Council predicts the tech sector in Ottawa will need to hire more than 9,700 people by 2019, most of whom will also choose to live in the west end to be close to the office.

While the average price of a home sold in March increased 8 per cent year-over-year, Mr. Gallon says part of the demand has also been driven by word-of-mouth.

“People are starting to realize the value is here in Ottawa, and people are starting to buy quickly, before the prices get crazy,” he says.

Ms. Van Camp admits it was a roller coaster ride to secure her first home and, although she paid more than asking, she was comfortable in getting in the neighbourhood she wanted for a price that met her budget. Finding a home in the current market can still be done, she says.

“First we didn’t get it, then a week later we had two hours to decide because it was back on the market. Did we want it? How badly? What were we willing to pay? Then we put our offer in and prayed for the best,” Ms. Van Camp says with a laugh. “Then we got it.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-est...-housing-market-is-countrys-most-active/

[phil235]

Ian Lee - housing market expert.

What an insightful piece of commentary. I always wondered how many people worked at various places in Ottawa.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by phil235

Ian Lee - housing market expert.

What an insightful piece of commentary. I always wondered how many people worked at various places in Ottawa.

Reminds me of the Daily Show, where every week everyone is different senior correspondent.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Reminds me of the Daily Show, where every week everyone is different senior correspondent.

That is exactly it! Ian Lee, Senior Wheat, Housing and Potash Correspondent (his words, not mine, sort of).

[canabiz]

We started a serious search for our new home in late March, after we sold our current home, and it took more than 1 month to find what we are looking for. It's not 100% what we had in mind but I think we managed the best situation in an unfavourable market (for buyers). Here are some observations/anecdotes on my part...in no particular order

- It helps to work with a buyer's agent. They have access to the pre-MLS listing (MLX I believe) and that could be the difference maker in this market. We are pretty good negotiators and are comfortable finding houses and crunching numbers on our own but we don't do this for a living and we appreciated the buyer agent's help, when called upon.

- Condos don't move, period. The buyer agent set up a number of portals for us on MLS using our criteria and the condo one barely made any noise, even though they are all located in desirable areas that we are interested in relocating to (Westboro, Champlain Park, Hintonburg). I have always thought condo is not a good investment and this further solidifies my belief.

- We have seen the good properties move the day they hit MLS and for over asking. We have seen the not-so-good properties languishing on MLS with reduced prices and open houses after open houses. Location and price sell, always but timing is also an important factor, particularly in this crazy market.

Happy hunting to all the buyers out there and Good Luck with your sale (you probably don't need it) to all the sellers!

[Vixx]

Originally Posted by canabiz

We started a serious search for our new home in late March, after we sold our current home, and it took more than 1 month to find what we are looking for. It's not 100% what we had in mind but I think we managed the best situation in an unfavourable market (for buyers). Here are some observations/anecdotes on my part...in no particular order

- It helps to work with a buyer's agent. They have access to the pre-MLS listing (MLX I believe) and that could be the difference maker in this market. We are pretty good negotiators and are comfortable finding houses and crunching numbers on our own but we don't do this for a living and we appreciated the buyer agent's help, when called upon.

- Condos don't move, period. The buyer agent set up a number of portals for us on MLS using our criteria and the condo one barely made any noise, even though they are all located in desirable areas that we are interested in relocating to (Westboro, Champlain Park, Hintonburg). I have always thought condo is not a good investment and this further solidifies my belief.

- We have seen the good properties move the day they hit MLS and for over asking. We have seen the not-so-good properties languishing on MLS with reduced prices and open houses after open houses. Location and price sell, always but timing is also an important factor, particularly in this crazy market.

Happy hunting to all the buyers out there and Good Luck with your sale (you probably don't need it) to all the sellers!

If you don't mind me asking, what area did you end up buying in?

I've been casually browsing MLS and you're right; all the good listings are snatched up right away, barely sitting. Inventory is still pretty bad.

One weird observation I've noticed lately. Places in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South have been sitting. The inventory there isn't strong either but it used to be that almost everything put up would sell in a reasonable time frame. Nowadays, I've noticed a lot of property sitting for months.

Obviously some of them are overpriced. Who wants to pay over $1,000,000 for a fixer upper? But even ones that need only minor touchups aren't moving fast.

I saw one property in Old Ottawa South that was nicely renovated with a reasonable price sit for a couple weeks. Once upon a time that place would have been gone in 2 days max. I think Ottawa's wealthy have really branched out lately.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Vixx

One weird observation I've noticed lately. Places in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South have been sitting. The inventory there isn't strong either but it used to be that almost everything put up would sell in a reasonable time frame. Nowadays, I've noticed a lot of property sitting for months.

Obviously some of them are overpriced. Who wants to pay over $1,000,000 for a fixer upper? But even ones that need only minor touchups aren't moving fast.

I saw one property in Old Ottawa South that was nicely renovated with a reasonable price sit for a couple weeks. Once upon a time that place would have been gone in 2 days max. I think Ottawa's wealthy have really branched out lately.

Not sure about that. There is almost no inventory in the Glebe. Our neighbours listed in March, accepted offers a week later, got seven offers and sold for 10% over list. Another house a couple of blocks over listed for 895 and sold in three days for $1.1 million. Anecdotal I realize, but not indicative of a slow market.

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by Vixx

If you don't mind me asking, what area did you end up buying in?

I've been casually browsing MLS and you're right; all the good listings are snatched up right away, barely sitting. Inventory is still pretty bad.

One weird observation I've noticed lately. Places in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South have been sitting. The inventory there isn't strong either but it used to be that almost everything put up would sell in a reasonable time frame. Nowadays, I've noticed a lot of property sitting for months.

Obviously some of them are overpriced. Who wants to pay over $1,000,000 for a fixer upper? But even ones that need only minor touchups aren't moving fast.

I saw one property in Old Ottawa South that was nicely renovated with a reasonable price sit for a couple weeks. Once upon a time that place would have been gone in 2 days max. I think Ottawa's wealthy have really branched out lately.

We bought in Mechanicsville, 5 minutes walk to current OC Transpo/future LRT station and we could see the Peace Tower from our living room window.

It will be quite a change for us, downsizing from 2,500 sq.ft detached home in Barrhaven to a 1,500 sq.ft townhome but I look forward to living more with less

Cheers.

[Vixx]

Originally Posted by phil235

Not sure about that. There is almost no inventory in the Glebe. Our neighbours listed in March, accepted offers a week later, got seven offers and sold for 10% over list. Another house a couple of blocks over listed for 895 and sold in three days for $1.1 million. Anecdotal I realize, but not indicative of a slow market.

I agree that inventory has been awful in the Glebe. I didn't suggest that the Glebe has been slow (the Ottawa market has been pretty hot lately) just from my also anecdotal experience some properties are sitting a bit longer then usual.

Just a personal theory that the focus lately has gravitated towards places like Westboro, Little Italy, Kanata etc. and that has potentially resulted in certain properties in the Glebe sitting. Of course I could be totally wrong.

[Vixx]

Originally Posted by canabiz

We bought in Mechanicsville, 5 minutes walk to current OC Transpo/future LRT station and we could see the Peace Tower from our living room window.

It will be quite a change for us, downsizing from 2,500 sq.ft detached home in Barrhaven to a 1,500 sq.ft townhome but I look forward to living more with less

Cheers.

Congrats! Honestly it's worth it to downsize if it means you'll still be comfortable in your new space and really love the area.

[rocketphish]

Bidding wars and madness: Inside Ottawa's sellers' real-estate market

James Bagnall, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 8, 2018

If you want to understand some of the forces now gripping Ottawa’s real-estate market, take a stroll down Fentiman Avenue in the heart of the leafy district known as Rideau Gardens.

It’s a quiet stretch of carefully maintained, two-storey homes across the canal from Lansdowne Park. Fentiman Avenue hosts an older neighbourhood, with sidewalks on both sides of the street and garages tucked behind the homes. It is very nearly quaint — and outsiders have been willing to pay a fair bit to live here.

In the past three weeks, separate owners listed homes at 49 and 68 Fentiman Ave. Each property sold in just six days for considerably more than the asking prices after attracting multiple offers.

The 73-year-old house at 49 Fentiman Ave. was listed at $785,000 and was snapped up on May 23 for $860,000.

Down the road, the 91-year-old property at 68 Fentiman Ave. went on the market at $750,000 and sold on May 28 for $815,000.

“The number of listings attracting multiple bids has jumped hugely over last year,” says Paddy McCarthy, one the Royal LePage Team Realty agents involved in the sale of 49 Fentiman Ave., “but the house was exceptional; the owners had done a lot of work to get it ready.”



McCarthy and his husband and real-estate partner, Andy McCarthy, found out about the potential listing because they live in the neighbourhood. The McCarthys and former owner of 49 Fentiman walked their dogs together.

Finding properties to list often takes a lot of work; actually selling homes is the easier part of their job.

But, like the city’s other real-estate agents, the McCarthys also represent potential homebuyers in other transactions. And in this market, this spring, that’s the really difficult part.

“This market is absolutely driven by a lack of inventory and a surplus of buyers,” says Paddy, “Some of our clients might make four, eight, 10 offers before getting a sale,” he adds.

Ottawa over the past year and a bit has morphed from a sane, balanced market into one that favours sellers.

•

In fact, the city doesn’t have a single real-estate market. Rather, it has hundreds of them. This is the reality understood by Ottawa’s 3,000 real-estate agents who collectively sold nearly 1,800 homes in May and close to 500 condominiums. Total sales volume: $1 billion.

It means very little to say that residences sold for an average $464,400 last month — up 6.3 per cent from a year earlier — or that condominiums sold for an average $281,250, up 3.4 per cent year over year.

These citywide averages disguise a cauldron of activity, wide price ranges and isolated spots of downright insanity.

Paul Rushforth, owner of the real-estate firm that bears his name, has seen evidence of the latter. His team listed a three-bedroom home in Barrhaven that recently went on the market for an opening price of $300,000. It attracted 30 offers and sold for $332,000.

“That was unusual,” says Rushforth. “Two to four offers is more typical.” And, as to why 30 offers didn’t drive up the sale price of the Barrhaven property more sharply, “Ottawa is still a price-sensitive market,” Rushforth adds, “You have to price your home correctly.”

It’s been a good year for Rushforth. He estimates his team of 18 agents will sell more than 800 properties this year — that’s homes and condominiums — compared to 669 in 2017.

This is one consequence of the tightness of the market. When there’s a shortage of listings, houses that are available tend to sell more quickly.



Consider the May data from the Ottawa Real Estate Board, which tracks the sales activity of its 3,000 plus member agents. (This data does not include sales of new residences).

There were about 4,000 active residential listings at the end of May, down nearly 16 per cent from a year earlier. There were also nearly 1,400 condominium listings, down 20 per cent year over year.

The year-over-year decline in listings helps to explain why sales are concluded more quickly. Residential properties that sold in May had been on the market for an average of 34 days compared to 41 days a year earlier. Condos last month took 46 days to find a buyer compared to 70 in May 2017.

The tightness of the market poses difficulties for certain buyers, the military in particular.

“It’s been a real challenge this year,” says Chris Scott, a realtor with Keller Williams Canada, which focuses on placing military employees who are relocating from other bases into Ottawa. “Our clients usually have just two to three days to look for a house and find they are getting into bidding wars they don’t have time for,” he adds.

Like other agents across the city, Scott advises his clients to do as much advance work as possible to expedite bids. His company maintains a portal, accessible by clients, which shows up-to-the-minute listings and sales activity. Scott urges his buyers to seek preliminary approval from their banks for financing the house purchase.

Not surprisingly, newcomers to Ottawa are keen on buying properties near the new Department of National Defence headquarters at 60 Moodie Dr. About 3,500 employees have moved into the refurbished facility from other parts of the city, with another 5,000 due to join them in stages.

This could explain why some of the real-estate districts reporting the fastest growth in this city are clustered around the new DND campus. Stittsville has been especially popular.

Last month saw the sale of 40 residences in Stittsville compared to just 28 sales in May 2017. The average price was $539,565 — up 8.5 per cent from a year ago.

This may be a little pricey for lower military ranks. Just to the east, 189 properties sold in Kanata for an average $446,094 in May —up 8.1 per cent year over year. Within the Kanata district, the biggest price movement for residential properties was in the sub-districts of Glen Cairn and Hazeldean, where resale values for residential properties jumped 24 per cent to a still modest $371,100.

That’s an important point about the real estate districts monitored by the Ottawa Real Estate Board. There are huge variations within districts, reinforcing the truism that all real estate is very, very local. (The differences tend to be less stark when using the board’s benchmark data, which adjust for differences in roof types, number of bathrooms and so on and provide a better underlying view of the real-estate market. The benchmark data for May was unavailable this week.)

In the Manor Park district, for instance, two properties close to Rockcliffe Park sold last month for an average $952,500 while another house, in the eastern part of the district, sold for just $457,000. In Rocky Point, along the Ottawa River in the west end, buyers paid nearly $1.1 million for one property while three other homes sold for about $650,000 apiece.

ALSO: What you should know about buying a condo in Ottawa

In general, the strongest price gains were in the west and east, along the future light rail transit line, though it’s possible this is a coincidence. Downtown, Sandy Hill, Vanier and Manor Park all reported significant rises in average prices for residences sold in May.

Sandy Hill, in particular, was hot. Five properties there sold for an average $815,500, up 35 per cent from the average for the three homes that sold there a year earlier.

Vanier was something of a surprise. Most of the sales took place in the sub-districts north of Montreal Road and south of Beechwood Cemetary — near the site of the proposed Salvation Army centre. Average prices in these areas last month climbed to $412,900 — up 23.4 per cent from May 2017.

An outlier in the east, involving the sale of just four properties, was the nearly 40 per cent year-over-year jump in average prices to $321,125 in Carlsbad Springs. The town may be benefitting from the recent revelation that Amazon is preparing to build a distribution centre nearby.

In the west, the top gainer was the Britannia-Lincoln Heights district, where properties that sold in May for an average $605,100, up 59 per cent from a year earlier. However, as with Manor Park and several other districts, this is likely a function of a small sample. The district saw four sales in May this year and just one last year.

Not all Ottawa’s 46 real estate districts showed year-over-year gains. Indeed, 11 districts reported declines, for the most part reflecting differences in the size, age and location of houses that came on offer last month compared to a year earlier.

In Rockcliffe Park, five homes sold last month for an average $1.2 million compared to 10 properties unloaded in May 2017 for $1.6 million each. No one believes property values there have really plummeted 28 per cent.

More representative of the city’s house price trends is the Glebe-Ottawa East district — the one in which the two Fentiman Avenue sales occurred. The average price for 27 properties sold was $895,400 — up 4.2 per cent year over year, just slightly below the average for the city.

Ottawa’s real-estate market was less frothy when it came to the sale of condominiums. “The downtown condo market is a tougher sell,” agrees Rushforth.

Real-estate agents did all right in May because the number of condo sales was up more than 13 per cent year over year in the city proper. However, the average price for each sale was up just two per cent to $319,800.

The pattern varied by region. In the downtown core, 80 units sold last month for an average $398,045 — down 3.4 per cent — while condo owners in the south of the city made do with an average $245,400, about the same as a year earlier.

Condo sellers did better in the east ($339,300 average price, up 13 per cent) and west ($326,600, up eight per cent).

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http://ottawacitizen.com/business/local-...nside-ottawas-sellers-real-estate-market

[kwoldtimer]

A townhouse sold last week in Manor Park East on the day it was listed. Four competing offers. Asking $474,900, sold for $534,900. Manor Park/Cardinal Glen seems to be among the stronger markets at the moment, after several rather quiet years.