Hello Ottawa,
In the course of working with buyers and sellers here in Ottawa, questions that come up frequently are: "When is the best time to sell my house?" and "When is the best time to buy a house". The answer of course is not usually as simple as looking at statistics.
Generally my answer for buyers depends on what type of house they are looking for, what the mortgage rate trends are, what the pricing trends are, and most importantly what’s going on in their life. If you’re living with your in-laws on a cot in their unfinished basement, does it really matter which time of the year will save you $1000? Seriously though, your circumstances and motivations are really the most important factor in determining the best time to buy. Nobody can predict the future so any advice on future pricing, mortgage rates, etc is all based on historical trends and has no guarantees. Looking at the numbers though… If mortgage rates are expected to rise, then it rarely makes sense to delay your purchase significantly since interest rates have such a large effect on your monthly payments. This is assuming prices are steady or rising. Again assuming prices are rising, it often can hurt you to delay rather than waiting for the cheapest month of the year to purchase. If prices are falling then the game becomes deciding when they have hit bottom. The other major factor which will determine when you should buy is based on the type of property you're looking for. If you're just looking for any 600 sq/ft condo in the Byward Market then you have nothing to worry about. If you're looking for a Minto Raleigh on Hunter's Run in Chapel Hill with a pool and a pie shaped lot, then you have a better chance in the spring when there is more inventory. All this being said, go ahead and take a look at the graph which does show the general pricing trend in Ottawa over the course of a year.
"When is the best time to sell my house in Ottawa? Similarly to buying, your timeframe will depend largely on your motivation and objectives when considering selling. The answer again is not always so straight forward even when looking at the numbers. The other factors that need to be considered are; the competition, landscaping, type of property, and neighbourhood. Is a cold, miserable January always a bad time to sell? Not necessarily since at the time you may be the only listing around, compared to the spring where you might have 5 identical homes in the neighbourhood to compete with. This can be a huge advantage for the speed of the sale and the price. On the flip side, if you have an acre lot and $175, 000 worth of landscaping, chances are this is not going to be appreciated very much covered in snow, and therefore may not be the best time to sell. All other factors being out of the equation, and just looking at the averages there does appear to be an advantage to the speed of the sale and the price when selling in the spring. Take a look at the graph for details.
If you would like to discuss in specific the best time to sell your Ottawa home, then get in touch and we will be happy to provide you with a full pricing and selling timeframe report.
Ryan Cole
Ryan@ColeConnection.ca
613-841-2255