Ottawa’s Condo Sales aren’t as bad as you think.
by Dave Williams

2014 has been a year a sad year of declining condo sales and prices.  Each month OREB (the Ottawa Real Estate Board) reports condo sales and average prices that have dipped, in some months to a 4 year low.

Some media have jumped on this a proof that the bubble is ready to burst, but there are some things they haven’t considered…

When we take a look at condos for sale in Ottawa with organized real estate it’s easy to forget that there are also thousands of new condominium apartments under construction as well (3,545 as of August).

If the condo market is so depressed who’s buying these units…

…lot’s of people are, and these new constructions are not being reported as part of OREB’s monthly numbers because they are sold by builder sales teams. (1,073 as of August)

So during a recent discussion with a REALTOR® I made a point.  If these sales are not being reported what would the numbers look like if they were?  Unfortunately we don’t have a full report of monthly builder sales and volume, but a recent client of ours moved into a building on Lisgar St, The Merit.  An up-scale development by Charlesfort Developments, most of the units in the $1,000,000 + range.

Our client took possession in July and the condo development was registered in September, which seemed like a standard closing period, so if we added The Merit Condos to July’s real estate numbers what would they look like.

Unaltered there were 262 condominium sales in July 2014 for a total value of $68,555,630 (8.5 % lower than 2013) which averages to $261,663.

If we took the 60 condo units in the Merit that were bought (there are still 12 available if your are interested: 613-788-2113) and ball parked them at $1,000,000 each (which is probably low considering some went in the $2.5M range) and added them to July’s numbers…

Our Altered stats for July 2014 now look like this; 322 Condominium Sales, sold for a total volume of $128,555,630 giving us an average price per condo of $399,241!

WOW!

What a month, it would be the 3rd best selling month ever and the highest average price.  Now this just happened to be an thought exercise in what the market may look like.

Looking at CMHC’s August report 1,144 condos have been purchased new this year, while OREB reports 1,925 condo sales in the same 8 months.  Over 1/3rd of condo sales this year in Ottawa have been new construction.

A large volume of new condo sales are not reported in these monthly statistics and due to the price point on new constructions I think it represents a higher than average price differential in the market.

For a condo buyer in Ottawa there are lots of condos to choose from and our buyer team specializes in helping buyers narrow down their selection based on the lifestyle the want to live, to find the best choice of condos, new & resale.

From affordable condos to luxury condos we have access to thousands of choices and can narrow down the right ones for you.

To chat with a REALTOR® today give us a call at 613-788-2113 and find out what condos on the market fit your lifestyle needs.