The notable rise in home sales in Ottawa has remained strong in August, according to an article on obj.ca. Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board had been at their busiest because of the influx of real estate market sales that had surpassed expectations compared to last year's numbers.
Board President David Oikle said "In addition to an increase in units sold, inventory levels of residential and condominium properties dropped by 5.3 per cent since last month, and cumulative days on the market was an average of 89 days." The residential property category came off with about 1,020 in sales whilst 259 were from sold condo units, according to the same article.
In another report on ottawacitizen.com, buyers being reluctant to heed sales slowdown in the housing market was a visible concern for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's election call made last Aug. 2nd of this year. OREB President David Oikle surmised "I'm not necessarily sure...Maybe they hesitate - 'maybe a change in government might impact me' - and so sometimes people slow down."
Still in the same article, Mr. Oikle reported on the big contribution, however, that the August sales numbers have given to the industry. According to the board, sales have been up to 4.2% and average house prices have been shown a positive rise to $370,951 from $364,307. "We've got a circumstance where transactions are up, prices are stable ... there's lots of good stuff going on, and I think it's healthy," says Oikle. The election is reported to commence on October 19th this year; and the Ottawa market has remained stable, even in the midst of "mixed economic results" in all other sectors, as observed by the board. More on the story can be viewed here.
