Real Estate Update

I am not sure how many of you read the Ottawa Citizen but on November 14th 2014, Patrick Langston revealed in his article Inside Ottawa’s Condo Market, that things were not as rosy on the new condo side of things as they had been in years past.
This comes as no surprise for those of us in the know and should not be alarmed as it has been a predictable outcome for a while. CMHC has been giving indications that this might be a bumpy road for the condo market well into 2015 but that soon after we may begin to see a more promising future in condo sales.
Certainly a big piece of the market for new condo sales has often been first time Buyers. With job prospects in the Capital for younger people diminishing and the public service shrinking in recent months, it is not surprising to see younger Buyers having trepidations about buying. I believe most realtors have witnessed the cautiousness of the big banks in their lending practices recently with a direct result of declining sales in the real estate market, especially in the condo market.
Langston reports that in the third quarter of 2014 there were more than 3000 condo units under construction and that the numbers projected for 2015 are expected to be significantly lower. This is due to the fact that there is a glut of unsold inventory out there in the Capital.
The interesting thing is that despite these falling numbers some of Ottawa’s major builders are not scared off. Minto, one of our fair city’s biggest and more reputable builders, has broken ground with two other major projects. One is in New Edinburgh’s Beechwood Village which, believe it or not, is evolving! The other is in tony Westboro. Both of these projects are on the coat tails of their rapid success at Lansdowne in the Glebe. Claridge, another major player in the Nation’s Capital, has announced they are moving ahead with their world class, 46 story project known as The Icon in Little Italy. This despite, according to Langston, having sold less than 20% of released units by the end of September. Most builders sell about 60% of a project before going to lenders for construction. It seems that Claridge is unconcerned about sales and perhaps this is due to the fact that they, like Minto, have reached out and gone further afield outside of Ottawa to some pretty hefty talent in the world of architectural firms. Claridge for example, has chosen Hariri Pontarini to design their world class building The Icon and Minto selected the Wallman firm of Toronto for their water view vision at Upper West.
For his article, Langston had listed 49 projects across the city that were at various stages; Launched, Coming Soon and Under Construction. Check it out on the Citizen’s website if you are curious.
I would conclude from all of this that there are a good many opportunities for Buyers out there to choose from with several exciting new condo projects in some of the Capital’s more vibrant neighbourhoods. As a result of all these new builds being available, there are many unbelievable opportunities where Buyers will get significant value in some of the city’s more mature, yet still prestigious buildings.
If you want to see for yourself please give us a call. All of us at Exceptional Properties would love to show you!