Ottawa and Surrounding Area Real Estate market discussion

Looks like the condo market would continue to stagnate until a few years into a hiring boom (2019 - 2020)? That's assuming there will be hiring by the feds.

http://ottawacitizen.com/business/local ... arket-cmhc

William W wrote: ↑It is a fairly convenient quiet neighbourhood, though, I found that there are certainly part that one would want to avoid. For example,
- Stations Blvd has Social Housing
- Homes close to the Alta Vista Towers, where residence in the apartment buildings can look into your backyard.
- Homes facing or backs on to Russel Road and Coronation Ave. As one faces light industrial and the other one faces the back of warehouses so noise and traffic can be an issue.
- Train tracks near Abbey Road and Caledon Road
- Something new to consider are homes that now back on to Greenspace will pretty soon have a new road that connects Riverside Drive to the Hospital. It is not so bad, assuming that is not going to be the first phase that would eventually form part of the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor that will connects Conroy Rd near Hunt Club to downtown or the 417.

William - impressed at your quick analysis of the are - do you have any thoughts on the new developments in OLD OTTAWA EAST off MAIN STREET
thanks

William W wrote: ↑Looks like the condo market would continue to stagnate until a few years into a hiring boom (2019 - 2020)? That's assuming there will be hiring by the feds.

http://ottawacitizen.com/business/local ... arket-cmhc

I think what's also interesting is that the average price of a condo is down to $251,177. I doubt that this price point buys you much in the downtown area, the Glebe or Landsdown Park. This price point has me thinking that most condo sales are probably in the burbs, in the walk-ups and older condo townhomes.

FRANKIE wrote: ↑William - impressed at your quick analysis of the are - do you have any thoughts on the new developments in OLD OTTAWA EAST off MAIN STREET
thanks

Thanks.

I'm not as familiar with that area as Riverview. However, here's my 2 cents. I think it is a great area as it is relatively close to the canal, downtown and the University. And there are a lot of infill development happening in the surrounding area.

My only concern is the cheapest single family homes, 1700 sq ft (including basement), in Greystone Village will cost around $800k and these are the ones that will directly face the town homes and the condo towers. Personally, I found it to be a little bit pricey consider that buyers is essentially buying the development sight unseen with no clue on how "dense" the development will be. On the other hand, it doesn't necessary mean they are overpriced as older single family homes in the area will cost approximately $500k. Add in $200/sq ft to build a similar quality standard/spec grade home, one will probably approach that figure anyways.

William W wrote: ↑Thanks.

I'm not as familiar with that area as Riverview. However, here's my 2 cents. I think it is a great area as it is relatively close to the canal, downtown and the University. And there are a lot of infill development happening in the surrounding area.

My only concern is the cheapest single family homes, 1700 sq ft (including basement), in Greystone Village will cost around $800k and these are the ones that will directly face the town homes and the condo towers. Personally, I found it to be a little bit pricey consider that buyers is essentially buying the development sight unseen with no clue on how "dense" the development will be. On the other hand, it doesn't necessary mean they are overpriced as older single family homes in the area will cost approximately $500k. Add in $200/sq ft to build a similar quality standard/spec grade home, one will probably approach that figure anyways.

Homes in Old Ottawa East are quite expensive, the only ones I see around $500,000 are tear-downs or tiny homes in need of complete renos http://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Singl ... TTAWA-EAST or http://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Singl ... ttawa-East. That said, it is a wonderful area, and although many of the older homes are small, it is close to the river and canal, and has lots of trees and greenery. We looked at a house on Merritt 10 years ago, and the kitchen was so tiny that we wouldn't have been able to add a dishwasher.

As I said previously on this thread, I think the new development will sell fast, it is close to areas where seniors who want to downsize (from Alta Vista, OOS, or the Glebe) will be comfortable moving to.

William W wrote: ↑Thanks.

I'm not as familiar with that area as Riverview. However, here's my 2 cents. I think it is a great area as it is relatively close to the canal, downtown and the University. And there are a lot of infill development happening in the surrounding area.

My only concern is the cheapest single family homes, 1700 sq ft (including basement), in Greystone Village will cost around $800k and these are the ones that will directly face the town homes and the condo towers. Personally, I found it to be a little bit pricey consider that buyers is essentially buying the development sight unseen with no clue on how "dense" the development will be. On the other hand, it doesn't necessary mean they are overpriced as older single family homes in the area will cost approximately $500k. Add in $200/sq ft to build a similar quality standard/spec grade home, one will probably approach that figure anyways.

thank you for that insight....

OttawaGardener wrote: ↑Homes in Old Ottawa East are quite expensive, the only ones I see around $500,000 are tear-downs or tiny homes in need of complete renos http://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Singl ... TTAWA-EAST or http://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Singl ... ttawa-East. That said, it is a wonderful area, and although many of the older homes are small, it is close to the river and canal, and has lots of trees and greenery. We looked at a house on Merritt 10 years ago, and the kitchen was so tiny that we wouldn't have been able to add a dishwasher.

As I said previously on this thread, I think the new development will sell fast, it is close to areas where seniors who want to downsize (from Alta Vista, OOS, or the Glebe) will be comfortable moving to.

yes thank you for the info..you are correct re downsizing - pricing is high may have to look into a condo but those pesky condo fees get in the way

Happy to report our house sold thanks for the feedback everyone. What a relief.

Congratulations. It's a lot more fun buying a house than selling one, isn't it?

cbr663 wrote: ↑Congratulations. It's a lot more fun buying a house than selling one, isn't it?

Absolutely!!!

Question for anyone living in the Ottawa/Gatineau area: my wife and I are currently looking to purchase a home in Aylmer in January/February 2016 and have been watching the local real estate listings there for the past 6 months and it seems as though absolutely NOTHING is selling. Listings we've seen in May 2015 are still very much there and many properties have been reduced in price since then with still no sales. For reference, we're looking at 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, detached houses with a budget between 350-450k.

We're not complaining because it's a buyer's paradise/market but we're just curious, can anyone fill us in on the state of the market in Gatineau, more specifically Aylmer?

twostepdrew wrote: ↑Question for anyone living in the Ottawa/Gatineau area: my wife and I are currently looking to purchase a home in Aylmer in January/February 2016 and have been watching the local real estate listings there for the past 6 months and it seems as though absolutely NOTHING is selling. Listings we've seen in May 2015 are still very much there and many properties have been reduced in price since then with still no sales. For reference, we're looking at 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, detached houses with a budget between 350-450k.

We're not complaining because it's a buyer's paradise/market but we're just curious, can anyone fill us in on the state of the market in Gatineau, more specifically Aylmer?

quebec is the mexico of canada. it's just cheaper there. things in aylmer probably aren't moving because aylmer kind of fell apart in the 90s after amalgamation. it's full of townhouse developments now, and nobody in their right mind would want to live in a townhouse and still have to drive all that distance to the city. plus i think there's still a lot of animosity between anglophones and francophones in that area. a ton of neighborhoods in aylmer were predominantly anglophone until the developers moved in, and i bet a bunch of them feel threatened.

on the bright side, $450k of real canada money will get you pretty much anything you want in aylmer. buy this place, my friend has been trying to unload it forever: http://passerelle.centris.ca/Redirect2. ... A&Langue=E

twostepdrew wrote: ↑Question for anyone living in the Ottawa/Gatineau area: my wife and I are currently looking to purchase a home in Aylmer in January/February 2016 and have been watching the local real estate listings there for the past 6 months and it seems as though absolutely NOTHING is selling. Listings we've seen in May 2015 are still very much there and many properties have been reduced in price since then with still no sales. For reference, we're looking at 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, detached houses with a budget between 350-450k.

We're not complaining because it's a buyer's paradise/market but we're just curious, can anyone fill us in on the state of the market in Gatineau, more specifically Aylmer?

Aylmer has expanded a lot lately, and commuting has been getting worse and worse. Champlain Bridge and Allumettières are clogged up during rush hours.

Also as Quebec is scrapping subsidized daycare, a lot of middle class Quebec families are moving out. In Gatineau, a household with $150,000 annual income will pay $700/month more tax.

twostepdrew wrote: ↑Question for anyone living in the Ottawa/Gatineau area: my wife and I are currently looking to purchase a home in Aylmer in January/February 2016 and have been watching the local real estate listings there for the past 6 months and it seems as though absolutely NOTHING is selling. Listings we've seen in May 2015 are still very much there and many properties have been reduced in price since then with still no sales. For reference, we're looking at 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, detached houses with a budget between 350-450k.

We're not complaining because it's a buyer's paradise/market but we're just curious, can anyone fill us in on the state of the market in Gatineau, more specifically Aylmer?

Cheaper isn't better. You have a decently sized budget, I'd look into staying in Ontario.

i'm noticing prices are staying pretty strong so far. houses in my neck of the woods are moving really fast, with the exception of the 3-4 really overpriced homes that have been on the market for months and months.

The market is very very stale in Kanata. Homes are sitting and sitting. Prices are dropping and dropping - bigtime. I get updates in my area every week from a realtor that show what homes actually sell for, its very interesting. Lots of 10k, 20k, 30k even 40k off asking prices.

z613 wrote: ↑The market is very very stale in Kanata. Homes are sitting and sitting. Prices are dropping and dropping - bigtime. I get updates in my area every week from a realtor that show what homes actually sell for, its very interesting. Lots of 10k, 20k, 30k even 40k off asking prices.

So many new builds out that way so people must be opting for those over resale homes.

mikek33 wrote: ↑So many new builds out that way so people must be opting for those over resale homes.

It seems that this has been the case for decades. We had a nice little bungalow in Cardinal Heights that we were selling in 1984, and even then people were flocking to Orleans to buy new homes. Large lot, great neighbourhood, 10 minutes from downtown, and buyers weren't interested (price was under $100,000, so that shouldn't have been an issue). We ended up selling to my brother, who still lives there.

It will be interesting to see what the Liberals is going to introduce in the next budget. I have read articles about them hiking the minimum down payment (at least to hot real estate markets like Toronto and Vancouver) to 10%. That will certainly be more challenging for first-time home buyers.

I wonder if they will do the same for rental properties (20% down at the moment).

canabiz wrote: ↑It will be interesting to see what the Liberals is going to introduce in the next budget. I have read articles about them hiking the minimum down payment (at least to hot real estate markets like Toronto and Vancouver) to 10%. That will certainly be more challenging for first-time home buyers.

I wonder if they will do the same for rental properties (20% down at the moment).

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/feds-to- ... -1.2695989

The new regulations will increase the minimum down payment required to buy a home for more than $500,000, with portions beyond that amount requiring a 10 per cent down payment. The down payment on the first $500,000 will remain at five per cent.

For example, a home costing $700,000 would require a $45,000 down payment – a five per cent down payment on the first $500,000, added to a 10 per cent down payment on the remaining $200,000.