Ottawa’s Real Estate Report for Q1 2013
by Dave Williams

I handed this chart to two real estate agents today.
One looked at it and said “Oh look it’s up this month!”  the other went “wow…worst in four years…wow.”

March 2013 – Prices are up 1% overall while sales are down to the lowest for the month of March in 4 years.

Yes, they were looking at the same chart…if we can’t get two REALTORS® to agree no wonder everyone else is confused.  Here is my take on these numbers.

Sales are down

1167 Homes and Condos sold in the month of March 2013, which is the lowest number of sales for the month of March in 4 years.

Why?

1. Mortgage rules makes it hard fro 1st time buyers to enter the housing market and up until recently they represented 40% of sales and given year.
2. It was 20 degrees warmer this time last year, and in Ottawa the housing market heats up with the temperature.

Prices are up

For the first time in 2013 the average prices of homes sold rose above last year, so hurray, prices this month were higher than March 2013.

This is an overview of the Ottawa real estate market, and all types of livable homes.  Next I’m going to dig a little deeper into freeholds vs condos…you might be surprised so stay tuned.