Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 699 residential properties in December through the Board's Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 618 in December 2010, an increase of 13.1 per cent. The five-year average for December sales is 611. The total number of homes sold through the Board's MLS® system in 2011 was 14,412, an increase of 1.7 per cent over 2010. The average price for 2011 was $343,701, an increase of 5.2 per cent over 2010.

Of December's sales, 177 were in the condominium property class, while 522 were in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, stacked etc.), which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties, which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.

"Resale home sales in 2011 were slightly above the five-year average of 14,326, and that's really the story for the year. The market started off the year quietly, but gained momentum as we headed into spring and summer, losing very little steam during the fall and posting the best November on record, which leaves us with a very solid balance sheet for 2011," said Past President Joanne Tibbles. "In many ways, it epitomized Ottawa's real estate market: no dizzying highs, no dramatic lows, just slow and steady growth over the long term," she added.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in December in the Ottawa area was $332,527, an increase of 2.6 per cent over December 2010. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $262,514, an increase of 3 per cent over December 2010. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $356,267, an increase of 0.2 per cent over December 2010. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

(Information courtesy of the OREB)