June turned out to be a hot month for home sales in the nation's capital, as low mortgage rates and a large selection of available properties drew out first-time buyers.
Figures released Wednesday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board show 1,712 properties were sold during the month. That's an 11-per-cent jump over the 1,543 properties sold in Ottawa during June 2010.
Resale home sales in Ottawa have been sluggish throughout most of this year. June marks the first month in 2011 in which the number of resale homes sold topped the same month one year ago.
"It's obvious that the dream of home ownership is alive and well in Ottawa, with solid sales numbers like these," said Joanne Tibbles, president of the real estate board. "Firsttime buyers are out in the market in a big way, due to continued low interest rates."
According to the board, the average sale price for all properties except condominiums in June was $375,539, an increase of 7.3 per cent over June 2010. The average price of a condominium was $275,996, up 9.6 per cent over the same month last year.
So far, a total of 7,765 homes have been sold in 2011. That trails last year's sales pace. In the first six months of 2010, the sales total reached 8,286 as buyers rushed to avoid paying the pending harmonized sales tax.
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