Your favourite newsletter is back! For anyone I’ve recently added on here, I hope you enjoy my somewhat ‘personal’ writing style I received some critiquing last time, that my post was ‘bland’. So to keep it interesting, let’s focus on some exciting developments and opportunities within Ottawa real estate.
First off, as I’m sure you may have heard, our primary shopping outlet, the Rideau Centre, is expanding. $360 million worth of expansions to be exact! I, for one, am exciting about a bunch of new fashion outlets, restaurants, and shopping. Not to say that Ottawa doesn’t dress well, but let’s just say it’ll be a welcome addition
Which leads me to my next question; how much more development will happen along Rideau (clearly the shopping ‘strip’ of Ottawa) before the city does something about the transport trucks that drive through there? Dear city of Ottawa, could we be the only city in North America which has a major trucking line running down our main shopping strip? Wakey wakey…
Oh, and there are some very nice condos being built there as well, so you can watch the games from your balcony! Contact me for info.
On to real estate investment options, there are a number of ways to invest in real estate in Ottawa. In order to give you investment advice, I would need to look at your situation and goals, to know what to recommend. It’s a tricky time for investing in Ottawa, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t good options. First and second mortgages, student rentals, furnished rentals, flips; all can be very good avenues but only if you know what to watch out for.
Here’s the local market info from OREB for October 2013:
“Resale units sold in October are right on par compared to the five-year average,” says Ansel Clarke, Past President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. “This is a welcome change from the first half of 2013, where we saw continuous decreases, albeit small ones, in the number of units sold. We are also seeing average prices beginning to creep back up. The Ottawa market is proving, once again, to be a steady, balanced market.”
October’s sales included 211 in the condominium property class, and 879 in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, townhouse, 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.
The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in October in the Ottawa area was $360,085, an increase of 4.1 per cent over October 2012. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $270,542, an increase of 1.6 per cent over October 2012. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $381,580, an increase of 3.5 per cent over October 2012. 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.
Til next time, have a great month, and remember to prepare for winter by turning off outdoor faucets and AC units, cleaning gutters, and putting on winter tires!!
And please don’t forget to send me referrals. I promise to take excellent care of anyone you send my way. For all your Realtor needs, I’ve got you covered 🙂
Chris Steeves
Sales Representative . Keller Williams Ottawa
cel: 613 262 1697
chris@chrissteeves.ca
The greatest compliment you can give me is the referral of your friends!