this article from Ottawa citizen brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO
A record-breaking number of homes were sold in Ottawa last month, up 3.9 per cent from May 2008, and for more money.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board said 1,969 residential properties were sold in May, compared to 1,896 a year ago. The May figure is a 19-per-cent increase from a month ago.
The average sale price of homes sold last month was $312,045, an increase of 5.3 per cent from May 2008.
Ottawa Real Estate Board president Rick Snell said the news is wonderful considering Canada’s turbulent economic climate.
“And it’s great for the Ottawa economy,” he said, “because every time there’s a sale, it generates all kinds of business throughout the Ottawa economy. People move, they buy furniture, they buy appliances, they decorate, they renovate.”
The fact that Ottawans enjoy the benefits of living in a real estate bubble is not news. With stable government employment and a highly educated population enjoying steady incomes for the most part, the city’s May figures don’t surprise the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
“We have a very stable market in Ottawa,” CMHC senior Ottawa market analyst Sandra Pérez Torres said Wednesday. “Year-to-date employment shows positive numbers. We have, until April 2009, a 0.1 per cent increase, so despite the fact that some sectors have decreases from last year — such as in trade, manufacturing, transportation — public administration and services are picking up the slack.”
“Even construction employment has increased significantly from last year.”
Pérez Torres said consumers are also continuing to take advantage of low interest rates.
“There are other, smaller regions in Ontario like Thunder Bay, for example, which is showing positive numbers as well. But in general, when we compare with the bigger picture, Ottawa is one of the best ones, showing a very, very positive outlook.”
The May numbers are in keeping with 2009 Ottawa real estate market projections released in December, in which RE/MAX and CMHC predicted a slight rise in prices and no drastic decline in home sales.
Ottawa is becoming more of a sellers’ market, Pérez Torres added. The trend began in April, and she predicts it will continue over the summer. Traditionally, Snell said, the market peaks in May and June before beginning a gradual decline into the fall.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Business/merry+month+Ottawa+home+sellers/1660731/story.html