The tale of February: a short month with tall market activity
The month of love really fired up the real estate market. Though 3 days shorter than January, February saw 52% more properties sold compared to the month prior. It’s not unusual to see an increase in sales as we start to settle into the new year, but the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) noted that this one was exceptional—even in the face of increased interest rates and consistently higher prices.
For the optimists, like us
Sale prices may still be on a significant rise, but there’s also a potentially promising slight rise in new listings last month that could be the start of something new. Last month, the number of new listings (1,762) was 4% higher than the five-year average for February, and 12% higher than in February of last year. Interestingly, residential-class property supply increased close to 10% compared to February 2021, while the number of condo-class properties that entered the market, on the other hand, actually went down 20%.
More listings leads to more activity; OREB reminds us that most listings entering the market won’t be staying there for long, as the number of days a property stays on the market continues on its steady decline with only 0.7 months worth of inventory. Our team can certainly attest to this—we continue to see it happen with our clients’ transactions. As properties come and go quickly, we’ve been working in overdrive to help our clients reach their goals. And we can help you too. We’ll do the legwork so that you won’t have to worry about running this race alone.
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Related links:
- The Ottawa Real Estate Board: Has Spring Sprung Early in Ottawa’s Resale Market?
- CTV News: Here’s what $837,000 will get you in Ottawa’s real estate market
