Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Homes selling faster, prices still rising

Ottawa, September 5, 2008 : Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,187 residential properties in August through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 1,307 in August 2007, a decrease of 9.2 per cent. There were 1,418 sales in July 2008.

“Making comparisons with 2007 is always difficult, because it remains the best year on record by such a significant margin. When you compare this year’s sales numbers to 2006, which still stands as the second-best year on record for sales, it becomes much more apparent that Ottawa’s resale housing market is very steady. In fact, year-to-date sales are up over the same time period in 2006. At the end of August of that year, members of the Board had sold 10,141 homes. As of the end of August 2008, members have sold 10,469 homes in the Ottawa area this year,” said Board President Heather Skuce.

The average price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in August in the Ottawa area was $280,806, an increase of 5.1 per cent over August 2007. The Board cautions that average 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 price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board is an industry association of 2,400 sales representatives and brokers in the Ottawa area. Members of the Board are also members of the Canadian Real Estate Association and thus are entitled to use the term REALTOR®.

The MLS® system is a member based service, paid for by the REALTOR® members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. The MLS® mark symbolizes the cooperation among REALTORS® to effect the purchase and sale of real estate through real estate services provided by REALTORS®. MLS® commercial and residential listings are available for viewing on the Board’s internet site at www.OttawaRealEstate.org and on the national websites of The Canadian Real Estate Association at www.mls.ca and www.ICX.ca. Information about listings and open houses is also available in the Board’s weekly newspaper, Ottawa Real Estate Guide, available free at 700 locations across the Ottawa area.