Gord McCormick is a Stittsville-based broker of record with Oasis Realty Brokerage and a senior member of the Ottawa Real Estate Board.
Stittsville’s population continued to grow this year with a great deal of new construction homes built and even more developments and projects on the horizon. New and updated amenities, infrastructure and services have also been added. (Although these never seem to come fast enough for many of us!)
Sales off in both new construction homes and resale markets
Though we don’t have Stittsville specific new construction statistics, it is expected that sales were down a couple of percentage points compared to 2013 which would be consistent with the overall new construction market in Ottawa. Accordingly, builders have been offering some significant bonuses and other inducements to get customer deals done.
This competition from new construction, coupled with excess listing inventory in the resale market made 2014 a very challenging year and results show that both unit sales and average prices were in negative territory this year.
The following unit sales and average selling prices are year-to-date up to the end of November 2014:
As this chart shows, unit sales were down in both Stittsville North and Central while the South end had a growth in unit sales. Average selling prices however were compromised by the supply/demand imbalance and all zones experienced a dip in average selling prices compared to 2013.
Listing inventory a key indicator
Listing inventory has been running at historically high levels across the city. As of November 30, 2014, listing inventory for residential properties was 29.5% higher than the 5 year average and it was 58.4% higher for condos. This excess listing inventory did not appear overnight but has actually been growing for 2 years or more. This will be a critical factor to watch in 2015.
Other geographic areas of interest
As shown by this table, many of the newer suburban areas where there is significant new construction have been experiencing similar sales and pricing pressure with results similar to those in Stittsville.
What’s ahead for 2015?
Looks like more of the same in 2015, offering challenges for sellers and some very good opportunities for buyers. Though our overall economic picture is stable and we have underlying reasonable demand, we have an oversupply of sellers which should see this buyer’s market continue through 2015.
Have you recently bought or sold a home in Stittsville? Any experiences to share? Tell us about it in the comments below or email feedback@ottawastart.com