Ottawa’s real estate market set another record in December as the average resale price surpassed $420,000 for the first time, according to realtor statistics.
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The previous record was $411,791, set in May 2015, according to OBJ records.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board, which released its December statistics Thursday, attributed the increase to a higher concentration of homes sold for more than $500,000.
Before it was even over, 2016 was guaranteed to be a record-setting year for Ottawa’s real estate market.
By November, local realtors had already set a new high for the number of homes sold in a single calendar year.
That didn’t stop the industry from ending a year with a bang by selling 715 homes in December, a new record for the month.
In total, Ottawa realtors sold 15,537 homes last year, a six-per-cent increase over 2015. The previous five-year average was 14,232 sales, according to OBJ records.
“No matter what is said in the history books about 2016, it proved overall to be a great year for Ottawa real estate,” said OREB president Rick Eisert in a statement. “The monthly unit sale performance in 2016 was often bolstered by a strengthened condo market which recorded increases over 2015 for much of the year.”
