Is now a good time to buy or sell? This is the question fluttering around the real estate market in Ottawa.
We sat down with Mitch MacKenzie to take a look at what the numbers say about the Ottawa condo market.
Below are Mitch’s statistics - let’s dive into what they mean.
As the interest rate has risen this year, we’ve seen a slight dip in condo prices throughout the summer.
September has been the highest month for average condo prices this year. Despite this, August was actually the second lowest average price we’ve seen this year, just behind June.
This trend suggests that prices have been on a downward turn throughout the summer. Although last month was a high point, it is important to pay attention to the overall trend for the past few months, because monthly statistics are only a small snapshot of overall yearly trends. They can be skewed by one incredibly expensive (or inexpensive) property, or other flukes in single sales.
Further, a rough idea for down payments illustrates that if prices continue to drop as they seem to be, these prices from sellers who are trying to appeal to cautious buyers may actually be an added benefit - as these prices drop, they combat the rising interest rates and provide a monthly payment similar to those before interest rates rose at all!
For example, comparing January and February average payments of $2127-$2160 with June and August’s $2208-$2327, there is only a slight increase in average monthly payments.
If prices drop further, we may see a complete leveling out which combats interest rates - at least in Ottawa’s condo market.
This means buyers may finally start to see the upper hand again.
Furthermore, we are seeing a huge increase in inventory as houses are on market for longer. This means buyers have more options and less rush to put in an offer. They can also utilize more conditions to protect themselves.
Average down payments have also been down on average this summer - from around $100,000 in the winter months to as low at $92,000 this summer!
