Ottawa's real estate market heats up in August, with home sales up 10 per cent

A new home is displayed for sale in a new housing development in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. Prospective buyers have lamented the torrid pace Canada's real estate market has moved at in recent years, but many feel 2023 may be the year their luck changes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Ottawa's real estate market heated up in August with home sales jumping 10 per cent, but home prices remained sluggish through the summer.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board says 1,100 homes were sold in Ottawa in August after 1,241 units were sold in July.

The benchmark price for a new home or condominium sold in August was $646,000, down 0.3 per cent from August 2023. The benchmark price for a single-family home was $732,500 last month, down 0.3 per cent from the year before. Statistics show the benchmark price for a single-family home in Ottawa dropped from $734,700 in July to $732,500 in August.

The real estate board says the Bank of Canada's cut in interest rates again this week should help extend the hot summer market into the fall.

"Being a seasonal market, it’s very encouraging to see sustained levels of activity throughout the whole summer,” Paul Czan, OREB President-elect, said in a statement. “And coupled with a third consecutive interest rate drop from the Bank of Canada, we are anticipating a heated market in the fall.”

Statistics show there were 1,907 new residential listings in August, up 0.2 per cent from August 2023. As of the end of August, there were 3,324 homes for sale across Ottawa.

Czan says affordability remains a "top concern for most buyers."

"With a stream of new listings hitting the market and prices holding steady, buyers are not moving with urgency," Czan said. "They are still using caution and taking their time to find the right property for their needs and budget. As such, sellers need to be patient and work with a REALTOR® who can use the latest neighbourhood-level data and insights to properly price their property and build a selling strategy.”

Benchmark price of a single-family home in Ottawa in 2024

Benchmark price for homes in Ottawa in 2024

(Source: the Ottawa Real Estate Board