Ottawa’s red-hot residential real estate market saw no slowdown in momentum as 2020 drew to a close.
Home sales surged more than 30 per cent in December compared with a year earlier, the Ottawa Real Estate Board said Wednesday, with the new head of the organization urging buyers to brace themselves for more price increases in 2021.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,002 properties last month, up from 757 in December 2019 and well ahead of the five-year average of 779. Local realtors sold 710 residential-class properties and 292 condos last month, with both segments posting year-over-year increases in the 30 per cent range.
Overall, nearly 19,000 homes changed hands in 2020, a slight increase over 2019’s total of about 18,600. But prices rose at a much faster rate over the last 12 months as buyers snapped up new inventory almost as fast as it was put on the market.