Sales Transactions: Higher for residential and slightly lower for condo’s
The Ottawa real estate board announced sales of 1,568 residential and condo properties during the month which was a slight improvement over 2011’s 1,530 sales but slightly behind the 5 year average of 1,610 transactions.On a year to date basis residential property transactions are 7.9% higher than last year while the number of condo’s sold this year is 0.2% less than last year. 

Average Prices: modest gains in residential prices, good price increase for condo’s
The average residential selling price on a year to date basis is up 2.4% to $378,419 and the average condo sold has increased in price 6.0% to $268,576. 

Days-on-market/time to sell: slightly slower across the board
The average residential property in the month of April sold in 34 days vs 30 last April and the average condo took 36 days to sell, compared to 26 days a year ago. 

Listing Inventory:Balanced going in to the busiest month of the year

Residential listing inventory is 6.4% higher than at this time last year and condo inventory is 11.8% higher.Given that May and June are historically the two largest sales months of the year, this slight inventory overage should not affect the market negatively.
Overall the Ottawa Board had almost 8,100 properties listed at the end of April. 

What you’ll pay:The following prices reflect average selling prices on a year to date basis by housing type:
Detached home overall average: $397,814 + 2.1%
Detached bungalow: $354,596 + 6.2%
Detached 2 storey: $ 438,173 -0.1%  

Row townhome: $314,369 + 2.8%
Semi-detached home: $ $379,622 + 7.9% 

Given the Federal budget at the end of March and the resulting job losses and budget restraint programs, one would still feel that this was a solid month in the Ottawa market and we expect to see a continuation of this steady performance. 

Gord McCormick, Broker of Record
Dawn Davey, Broker
Oasis Realty Brokerage Ottawa
613-435-4692
www.oasisrealtyottawa.com

oasisrealty@rogers.com

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We are seeing a surprising number of "exclusive" listings promoted by some real estate sales people and brokerages in our area.  Is this exclusive listing a viable marketing approach or merely a sales tactic and closing technique used by some sales people?  See article tab at left for details. Exclusive Listings vs MLS® Listings

Steady Year in Ottawa Residential Real Estate 

The Ottawa real estate board ended the year on a positive note with an uptick in 4^thquarter sales.  Overall transactions for the year showed a slight increase over a strong year in 2010.  2011 transactions totalled 14,412;  an increase of 1.7% over the previous year and also slightly higher than the 5 year transaction average. 

Average prices for properties sold continued to increase, with residential properties showing a 5.4% increase ($367,986) throughout the year and condos increases averaged 4.6% ($260,724).  The average property took slightly longer to sell in 2011 with residential properties selling in 36 days and condos in 35 days. 

One potential area for concern is that listing inventory has built throughout the year and at year end we have 31.9% more residential listings than a year ago and 12.1% more condos.  This would indicate that there are more sellers than buyers in the market and we would normally expect that this should put some pressure on selling prices but thus far the average price increases remain positive.  Although the month of December average price increases of properties sold was only .2% for residential properties and +3.0% for condos, so perhaps we are seeing a moderating influence from this additional listing inventory. 

Here are the average selling prices of some categories of homes in our area: 

Residential:
Single detached average selling price during 2011: $385,523 +5.1%
2 storey detached home:  $431,881  +4.4%
Detached bungalow:  $343,523 +7.0%
2 storey row townhome:  $297,763 +4.9%
2 storey semi detached: $356,948  + 9.9% 

Condominium:
Apartment condo:  $290,009 + 3.7%
Row townhome:     $227,589 + 5.2%
Stacked townhome: $230,479 +4.8% 

For detailed information on your own neighbourhood, feel free to give us a call to schedule a no charge no obligation market analysis of your property. 

Gord McCormick, Broker of Record
Dawn Davey, Broker
Oasis Realty Brokerage
613-435-4692 or 613-371-9691
oasisrealty@rogers.com

In today's real estate market environment, it just makes sense to be represented by a real estate professional and beat other buyers to new listings.  We constantly hear from buyers who follow new listings on their own, only to find out many properties are already sold by the time they see them.  As your buyer representatives, we will help insure you get immediate notification of all new listings that meet your buying criteria.  We will provide you notification to the hottest new homes for sale in Ottawa with our "Instantaneous listing notification service" and you will never miss out on a hot new listing again. See the "Home Search" page at left for details.       Welcome to Oasis Realty, Brokerage your source for Ottawa real estate which offers Quality Service & Affordable Rates!

Whether you are buying or selling a home, hire us as your executive team.  We will be your researchers, marketing and advertising managers, administrators and sales executives in a consultative approach.  We can show you any property listed on MLS®, private  sales, and  new construction homes or condos from builders .   We have earned our "Broker" level registration; a title only 1 of out of 5 real estate professionals have. (source Real Estate Council of Ontario) Put our knowledge and professionalism to work for you during this major change in your life! In addition, if you have any general questions about buying or selling real estate in Ottawa, please contact either Dawn or Gord as we would be most pleased to help. Sincerest Regards, Dawn Davey, Broker Gord McCormick, Broker of Record 613-435-4692 oasisrealty@rogers.com or text to: 613-371-9691   Let us help you buy &/or sell your "Oasis" !