Ottawa’s low 2013 home sales will make for a BIG 2014
by Dave Williams

Members of OREB (Ottawa Real Estate Board, sold 13,873 homes & condos in 2013, a 3.2% decline over 2012 which for those following the market in Ottawa is not much of a surprise, but if we were to look back over the years and realized that those are the lowest sales numbers posted by OREB since 2008, the story told could have been very different, it could easily have read 2013, the worst year in Ottawa real estate in 5 years.

But it’s wasn’t, home prices were up almost 1.6% across the board, many neighbourhoods saw double digit growth in home values, so the real story is all about perspective and boy are we going to get an overdose in 2014.

When 5 out of 6 months at the beginning of last year has less sales than 2012, the reports looked bad, Real Estate sales were declining.

Let’s call that “setting the bar low.”

This year as sales trickle in (and considering we’ve seen a rebound in sales numbers towards the second half of 2013 these sales numbers should be higher than last) and the media heralds these higher sales as the turn around point for Ottawa’s Real Estate Market (or proof that it’s overinflated) just remember our 5% growth over 2013 could make 2014 only the second worst year in the last 5…

…but that’s just my perspective.  Here’s to 6 months of amazing real estate growth!