UPDATE TO MARKET STATS – The Ottawa Real Estate Board has released an update to its March sales statistics, due to an input error when originally collecting the March statistical reports. The updated sales statistics for March are provided below from the OREB website:
Ottawa, April 11, 2014 – Due to an input error when collecting our March statistical reports, the stats we previously released were found to be incorrect. This error caused us to under-report the number of units sold, consequently affecting the average sales prices. We have now rerun the reports and have provided you with the correct, updated statistics for the month of March 2014. We have put procedures in place to ensure that this will not happen again. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,189 residential properties in March through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,160 in March 2013, an increase of 2.5 per cent.
March’s sales included 245 in the condominium property class, and 944 in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, stacked etc.), which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in March in the Ottawa area was $358,741, an increase of 0.3 per cent over March 2013. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $251,580, a decrease of two per cent over March 2013. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $386,553, an increase of 0.2 per cent over March 2013. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.
The original March sales statistics are below:
According to statistics released today from the Ottawa Real Estate Board, members of the Board sold 1,126 residential properties through the Multiple Listing Service during the month of March, which is a 2.9% decrease over properties sold during the same month in 2013. March home sales have picked up month over month, “with 256 more properties switching hands in March than in February.”
Randy Oickle, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, said in the release that the month-over-month increase of 29.7% is “expected of a spring market.” He added that “2,776 properties were listed in March, indicating that sellers were getting ready the busy spring market.” March’s sales included 896 in the residential property class and 230 in the condominium property class. The condominium property class includes any property which is registered as a condominium, regardless of style, as well as properties which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.
The average sale price of all residential properties, including condominiums, was $359,051 in March, which is a 0.3% increase over March 2013. The average sale price for a condominium decreased by 2.1% over March 2013, to $251,381, while the average sale price for a residential property was $386,690, an increase of 0.2% over March of last year.
Oickle also noted that “the average days on market stood at 49 for the month of March, lower than the average of 61 days in January and February, indicating that properties are starting to move faster as we enter the second quarter of 2014.” As the spring market blooms in Ottawa, potential buyers and sellers are encouraged to contact an Ottawa Realtor to offer more information on real estate trends in their neighbourhood.
Visit the OREB website to view the full report. If you’d like more information on the latest Ottawa Real Estate Board statistics, please feel free to contact us directly or browse our website for a sales representative who can help you. Don’t forget to follow our blog, or sign up to have posts delivered directly to your e-mail inbox.
