Ottawa’s MLS market made headway in 2024, with the number of active residential listings rising between November 2023 and the end of November 2024.
While 4,036 active residential listings were on the market at the end of November 2024, this represented a 38.2 per cent gain from November 2023, wrote the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) in a news release.
Additionally, active listings at the end of November 2024 were 72.8 per cent above the five-year average and 44.3 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of November, they added.
But according to the real estate board, The number of new listings saw a decrease of 7.3% from November 2023.
With 1,352 new residential listings in November 2024, new listings were 6.3 per cent below the five-year average and 0.3 per cent above the 10-year average for the month of November, explained OREB.
Table representing the number of new listings from 2015-2024. Image by the Ottawa Real Estate Board.
Data also showed a dip in the number of homes sold through MLS, totalling 1,059 units in November 2024, slightly down from 1,179 units sold the previous month.
With this decline, home sales were 3.1 per cent below the five-year average and 0.5 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of November, wrote OREB.
Table representing the number of homes sold in Ottawa from 2015-2024. Image by the Ottawa Real Estate Board.
But on a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 12,882 units in November 2024.
This represents an increase of 11.8 per cent from the same period in 2023, they explained.
“Ottawa’s market is making headway on a long road back from the slowdown experienced in 2023,” said OREB Past-President Curtis Fillier.
“Buyers have been slow to come back to the market while watching the interest rates lower, and some are waiting to see how new mortgage rules — the extended amortization period and the increased default insurance cap — coming into effect in December may redefine their purchasing power,” he added.
According to Fillier, a slowdown in the housing market is typical at this time of year, while people are busy with the holiday season and snow starts to cover a property’s selling features.
But as prices stay steady and open houses remain busy, Fillier notes that people are still keeping an eye on housing opportunities.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board also noted that Months of Inventory — the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity — numbered 3.8 at the end of November 2024, compared with 4.0 in November 2023.
While the MLS Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends, the benchmark price was found to be $636,700 in November 2024 — an increase of 1.5 per cent from November 2023.
Based on HPI, other findings from OREB included:
- The benchmark price for single-family homes was $722,400, up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis in November.
- By comparison, the benchmark price for a townhouse/row unit was $491,500, up 0.3% compared to a year earlier.
- The benchmark apartment price was $406,200, down 3.7% from last year.
- The average price of homes sold in November 2024 was $667,098 increasing 4.6% from November 2023.
- The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $679,797, increasing by 1.2% from November 2023.
- The dollar volume of all home sales in November 2024 was $706.4 million, up 51.8% from November 2023.
While the average sale price can be useful in understanding trends over time, this should not be applied as an indication that specific properties have increased or decreased in value, cautioned OREB.
“The calculation of the average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold. Prices will vary from neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood,” wrote the board.