Ottawa’s resale housing market continued its slump in June, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board. Photograph by: Bruno Schlumberger , The Ottawa Citizen OTTAWA — Ottawa’s resale housing market continued its slump in June, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board. The board, which releases statistics detailing houses sold using its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) monthly, said only 1,594 resale homes were sold last month, down from the 1,662 sold during the same month one year earlier. Ottawa has seen slumping sales in the resale housing market for seven of the past eight months. Board spokesman Ansel Clarke, acknowledged the continued slump in sales, however said that the June sales slide seems to be something seasonal. “June sales are down a bit since last month, but even though there’s a slight decrease, it seems to be the norm throughout the years,” said Clarke. “Since June 2003, with the exception of June 2011, sales have consistently decreased from May to June.” The biggest drop in demand during the month was for condominiums, which continue to have a tough time attracting buyers. A total of 314 condominiums were sold in June, a 14.9-per-cent drop from the 369 sold in June 2012. The drop in condominium demand is also forcing prices downward. The average price of a condominium in June was $265,410, a 4.3-per-cent drop from $277,257 during the same month last year. “The condo market has dipped below average. The five-year average for June condo sales is 368, putting June in at 17-per-cent lower than the average,” said Clarke. Residential properties fared better. A total of 1,280 residential homes were sold during June, a one-per-cent drop from the 1,293 sold during the same month last year. Prices for residential properties remained strong. The average price of a residential property in June was $382,248, a 2.2-per-cent increase over $374,086 in June 2012. The sales pace of resale housing during the first six months of 2013 are lagging far behind the pace set last year. According to the board, a total of 7,626 homes have been sold in the first six months of the year, a seven-per-cent drop from the 8,198 sold during the same time frame in 2012. The sluggish real estate market is being blamed on a stalled economy and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s efforts to curb household debt, which were announced last year. In June 2012 he intervened in the mortgage market for the fourth time in four years, cutting the maximum amortization period for government-insured mortgages to 25 years from 30 and increasing the minimum amount a buyer must put down on a property. The changes have had a dramatic effect on first-time buyers. © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen Read more: ottawacitizen/business/Home+prices+march+upwards+even+Ottawa+housing+market+continues+slide/8616373/story.html#ixzz2YAwqUjqK
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 13:00:32 +0000