Ottawa and Surrounding Area Real Estate market discussion

jk9088 wrote: ↑ Interesting article, points out that many people who are still getting paid their regular income are saving lots of money now during the COVID-19 fiasco which may be helping them reach financial goals such as buying a house sooner:

https://business.financialpost.com/pers ... avings/amp

"The other 50 per cent of their newly freed up cash flow is being earmarked for spending projects, with many clients moving up financial goals that were originally two to five years away. Some are building up downpayment funds faster than they initially intended so that they can purchase a first home while others are preparing to accelerate plans to buy their second."

jk9088 wrote: ↑ Same, our expenses are down (mostly from not eating out or doing anything fun), several mortgage payments way down thanks to the massive interest rate cuts, and our income actually higher than if no COVID-19 (spouse works in healthcare).

Will be interesting to see if there are more home buyers driving up demand once this is over. Anecdotally I know some first-time home buyers who were previously thinking of buying but are more serious now as they think they finally might be able to find a good deal in this environment.

skeet50 wrote: ↑ It looks like condo prices peaked last month and are down 11.3% from March while residential prices peaked Feb and are down 7.5% from Feb.

I'm thinking that we won't see the true effects of COVID-19 until the Fall. The next couple of months we will have to weather business bankruptcy, permanent job losses, the end of the CERB, and the end of all the mortgage and loan deferrals. We could possibly see a flood of listings by the Fall which could drive down prices even more.

jk9088 wrote: ↑ Same, our expenses are down (mostly from not eating out or doing anything fun), several mortgage payments way down thanks to the massive interest rate cuts, and our income actually higher than if no COVID-19 (spouse works in healthcare).

Will be interesting to see if there are more home buyers driving up demand once this is over. Anecdotally I know some first-time home buyers who were previously thinking of buying but are more serious now as they think they finally might be able to find a good deal in this environment.

fisher44 wrote: ↑ i keep reading that real estate effects are felt about 6 months after the financial event itself. i'm curious to see what happens.

ottawa april stats are a lot stronger than i thought.

fisher44 wrote: ↑ i keep reading that real estate effects are felt about 6 months after the financial event itself. i'm curious to see what happens.

ottawa april stats are a lot stronger than i thought.

skeet50 wrote: ↑ I'm curious too. I'm actually surprised by April stats as I thought that the prices would be higher. I wasn't expecting such a drop in prices so quickly. We haven't had a lot of inventory on the market for a while now which generally keeps demand high. And, most sellers generally take months to drop prices. This monthly drop is more than anything we experienced in the 2012-16 Federal layoffs.

It'll be interesting to see how the year unfolds.

skeet50 wrote: ↑ I'm curious too. I'm actually surprised by April stats as I thought that the prices would be higher. I wasn't expecting such a drop in prices so quickly. We haven't had a lot of inventory on the market for a while now which generally keeps demand high. And, most sellers generally take months to drop prices. This monthly drop is more than anything we experienced in the 2012-16 Federal layoffs.

It'll be interesting to see how the year unfolds.

William W wrote: ↑ Those who sold in April are probably the one who needed to sell. And those who doesn't need to sell probably held their prices or not even bother listing the property.

As we move into Phase 2 of reopening the economy and departments start implementing their Business Resumption Plans, I expects the market to normalize by June. Civil servants will start heading back to work and restaurants will probably start reopening with limited capacity. Because this was a Government induced recession, the recovery really depends on how fast they flick the switches back on. And so far, I think we are on or ahead of schedule judging by the prices of crude oil and how Bay Street rebound off its March lows.

Don't know about other cities, but I think Ottawa should be fine. After all, departments only have 9 months to deliver their 12 months worth of mandates. I expect the contractors as well as the Temp Help agency to be really busy this fall and winter as HR struggle to process the backlog of hirings.

BlueSolstice wrote: ↑ Until a vaccine is available and everyone in the whole world gets it, certain industries and cities will continue to have a hard time. Tourism, aviation, and oil are among the obvious. I think Ottawa airport's lack of activity, and Ontario's lack of oil is probably a blessing during this pandemic. All the civil servants and tech workers would be forced to stay closer to home and spend their vacation dollars closer to home.

MSparrow wrote: ↑ Looking into getting a rental property for investment. Which builder or community would you recommend? Was waiting for prices to drop but doesn't seem like that's happening anytime soon. Had my eyes on Arcadia by Minto
Edenwylde
Barrhaven by Mattamy
Valecraft
But Minto and Mattamy reviews are quite discouraging.

MSparrow wrote: ↑ Looking into getting a rental property for investment. Which builder or community would you recommend? Was waiting for prices to drop but doesn't seem like that's happening anytime soon. Had my eyes on Arcadia by Minto
Edenwylde
Barrhaven by Mattamy
Valecraft
But Minto and Mattamy reviews are quite discouraging.