Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, is witnessing shortage in homes. The current upsurge in the price of homes is linked to the demand pressure. The condominium market saw a gradual but steady rise in sales activity.

Royal LePage, one of the real estate heavyweights, said the price of homes rose by 8.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2017 year-over-year to $432,864. In April, the average price of a condominium was $268,600, a 2.9 per cent year-over-year increase. The sales for condominium jumped by 18.2 per cent to 312 units.

The benchmark for prices of homes is not static as it varies significantly by district. While there was a gain of fifteen per cent for a single family home in the OREB district of Hunt Club/Windsor Park, there was a nine per cent decline for similar homes in Rockcliffe Park.

The shortage in home listing was confirmed by a broker at Royal LePage Team Realty, Hanna Browne, “Inventory levels across Ottawa have radically changed of late, reaching three-year lows and dropping by more than 20 per cent when compared to the same time last year”.

According to Browne, "In recent months, we have seen a Toronto-like effect with many buyers and not enough listings to go around. These dynamics are putting a lot of pressure on the region's home prices, in what is now decidedly a seller's market."

In May, Ottawa residential properties had an average price of $436,600, a jump of 7.4 year-over-year. This made it the second time in a row that there has been a price increase in excess of 7 per cent. This means that the real estate market in Ottawa is tilting in favor of the sellers.

Irrespective of the increase in home prices, Ottawa housing scene is still very much on the balance between the buyers and the sellers, in comparison to Toronto – where it is obviously a seller’s market. In April, the average price of a detached home was $1.6 million, a surge of 25.2 per cent year-over-year.

Royal LePage predicts that prices will rise to $439,332, a rise of six per cent year-over-year, as demand climbs. This report is coming on the heels of the statement by Ottawa Real Estate Board which said the sector’s stellar year continued in June with sales going up 8.9 per cent year-over-year against same month the previous year.