Okay so back to the housing market talk

I've been sitting here, contemplating how to find out what a house is 'really worth'. After all, in Ottawa there seems to be a great deal of people that think that their house is worth 400k but a comparable house down the street is selling for 350k. That's a sizeable difference - and really, what is the real value? Well, I'm thinking the real worth might be defined in a property assessment. You can read up on them via the City of Ottawa's website.

My FAVORITE piece of information is this:

Q: I purchased my property in 2008. Shouldn’t my assessed value be the same as the purchase price?
A: The price you paid for your property was affected by several factors, including your desire to purchase the property and the seller’s willingness to reduce the price to encourage the sale. MPAC uses a middle range of similar prices for similar properties to establish the value of your property assessment, which reflects the value of your property on January 1, 2008, and not on the date of your purchase.

Q: How can I find out more information about the assessed value of properties similar to mine?
A: MPAC offers information about other properties like yours on their web site at mpac.ca, under a section called “About My Property”. This service allows ratepayers to review basic assessment information about their property. You are entitled to one Property Profile Report for your property, up to 24 additional properties of your choice, and up to 6 properties selected by MPAC. This service is free of charge. To use “About My Property” you will need your User ID and Password provided on your 2008 Property Assessment Notice.

I'm so using this MPAC service to discover the assessed value of any potential houses!

Little Cabins built locally

So I've been on a small house kick for sometime and recently saw this house via usedottawa. Made by Daalder Leisure Cabins with prices starting at less then $4k.

Canadian and American Builders on rateyourbuilder.com

I recently discovered rateyourbuilder.com - they have a Canadian site, too! Apparently the worst builders in Ottawa are Ashcroft, Pheonix, and Claridge.

A free-trade vegan baker-caterer-food lover in Otown!

I chatted up Nadia Mohabir about her baking and asked if she has ventured into the land of wedding cakes (imagine, a vegan wedding cake!). She hasn't done it YET - though she did seem to enjoy the idea of trying it out. I thought some peeps out there might find that interesting - finding a baker in Ottawa for a special event can be hard, adding dietary needs into that just makes it harder!

I tried out her baked goods, including her vegan truffles (in my mind, this should have been impossible) and let me tell you - I LOVE CHOCOLATE and have tried a TON of vegan alternatives. Hers were PERFECT, I honestly thought they were made with real cream!!! I can only imagine how good the rest of her stuff is!

For more info, check out her webpage. I thought her prices were really reasonable compared with the dairy alternatives.

Art via SweetGrognasse - Found via Ladyfest Craftsale Ottawa!

I went to the ladyfest craft sale this weekend and absolutely fell in love with these prints by Isabelle Guimond. Based in Montreal, she has a blog (en francais) that features her work.

Check it out, leave a comment! Her stuff is incredibly affordable and comes in various sizes. The print above is called Electric as Her and I so want to buy this for my friend, Jayda! And FYI - you can buy via her blog, just leave a comment or send her an email for more info.

More interesting housing info

So we have decided that we are definately out of the housing market for at least the next year as things are just starting to get interesting...I found yet another article on the state of the Canadian Housing Market:

OTTAWA -Housing is starting to become more affordable across Canada, the country's largest bank said Monday.

RBC's third-quarter housing report was issued amid news from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. that housing construction starts took a larger-than-expected dive in November to seven-year low of 172,000 units, and a warning of continued weakness through the next year.

...

Regionally, the cost of carrying a detached bungalow ranged from a high of 69.7 per cent of income in British Columbia to a low of 35.4 per cent in Atlantic Canada. Among a selection of major cities, the range was from a high of 74.8 per cent in Vancouver to a low of 40.4 per cent in Montreal with Toronto at 53.3 per cent, Calgary 47.3 per cent, and Ottawa 43.3 per cent.

43.3%!!

The rest is here.

And, of course, a contradiction via CTV

So who do you believe? According to CTV:

Economy casts shadow on Ottawa housing market: report
Updated: Wed Dec. 03 2008 18:43:41

The slow economy has put the skids on Ottawa's housing market.

RE/MAX's housing outlook has concluded the resale market began cooling off in the summer.

Prices are expected to flatline in 2009. The average price in Ottawa will hold at about $292,000 next year, according to RE/MAX.

Flatline? Or fall?

And of course, the source.

Interesting info via Blogger - 18th Best

My favorite parts:

Ottawa Housing Market bucking National Trend

Ottawa's housing market seems to be somewhat insulated from the housing market downturn effecting much of the rest of the country.
...
Despite this news, Ottawa's housing data is somewhat rosier. StatsCan reports that the housing price index across Canada rose 2.1 per cent in September on a year-over-year basis and in Ottawa the same report indicates that Ottawa's housing index rose 4.3 per cent. Toronto was 3 per cent. Hot markets are still Regina and St. John's, cooling markets are Calgary and Edmonton. In specific terms, the average price of a condo in Ottawa rose 6.5 per cent to $206,417 ($278,000 in central Ottawa). A standard two-storey home increased 4.8 per cent to $317,500 while the price of a standard detached bungalow rose by 4.3 per cent to $318,833. Housing starts were up in October in Ottawa by 31 per cent from a year earlier (884 last month compared to 676 in October 2007). Most of the growth is high density too which is good from an urban planning and transit point of view.

Check out 18th Best here.

Average Ottawa Housing Prices

Here's some statistics on the average selling price via the Ottawa Real Estate Board:

Year-Price-Percentage Increase

1956 $ 13,351 0.2
1957 $ 14,230 6.6
1977 $ 57,032 4.4
1978 $ 59,134 3.7
1991 $143,361 1.4
1992 $143,868 0.4
2002 $200,711 14.1
2003 $218,692 9.0
2004 $235,678 7.8
2005 $244,531 3.8
2006 $255,889 4.7
2007 $272,618 6.4


Random sampling by me!

Report on Ottawa housing via CHMC

Here's an interesting part (this was recently released - Fall 2008):

Market Trending Towards Balanced Territory

The supply side of the Resale Market, new Listings, rebounded strongly during the second quarter of 2008 and is expected to close the year at a 4 per cent year-over-year increase. Although a robust increase, resale volume will increase at a healthier
pace this year; therefore, sustaining the existing home market in sellers’territory.

Looking forward into 2009, it is anticipated that the Capital City’s resale market will trend towards a Balanced Territory. With the slight softening of demand and new listings remaining at a healthy level, the Sales to New Listings ratio will fall below the 55 per cent mark. Consequently, resale market conditions will support
price increases at approximately the inflation rate.

The rest is downloadable here.

I love these shelves!

I wonder if they would be hard to replicate??

Found via apartmenttherapy.com (of course).

Yet another article - via Globe and Mail

Of course the Globe and Mail is called Toronto's local newspaper for a reason - I found an article about condos in TO, it seems to be coming a buyers market. That said, the article really plays down any looming housing crisis. Here's an interesting part:

Yes, sales are down, but then again, last year was a blip, an anomaly, a Yukon gold rush. The market, experts say, is returning to the levels of more normal times.

That is probably good news. It may mean the rise in prices will slow or, even better, stall. It also means buyers will have an enormous range of choice. There are more than 330 different projects on sale in the GTA right now — the most ever.

And, as a shiny red cherry on top, mortgage money is still available for most buyers and at reassuringly low rates.

And another interesting part:

Jim Murphy, president of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, which represents brokers, lenders and mortgage insurers, says it is, in fact, business as usual.

"There is a plentiful supply at reasonable rates for any borrower who can qualify," he points out. "Condos have taken over from single-family housing as the major force in the residential market and the industry has recognized that.

"There is no issue with supply, and those lenders that focused on subprime mortgages have left the market."

The rest is here.

Is it a bubble? Is it about to burst? - yet another article!

Okay, okay - this one is almost a year old!! I find the information in it interesting though, like this:

A better way to gauge the tenor of housing markets from one era to the next is to look at housing affordability. In simple terms, it measures the share of an average family's household income that is required to service the mortgage on an average priced home, and captures changes in earnings strength and interest rates. By that measure, several markets remain relatively affordable compared to more manic days gone by (see chart).

In Toronto, mortgages eat up 27 per cent of household income, according to research firm Altus Clayton, down from a peak of 40.4 per cent in 1990. In Calgary, families pay more to maintain their mortgages than in 1989, at 27.9 per cent, but have yet to reach the heights of the 1981 boom, when it took 31.1 per cent. Even when you factor property taxes and utilities into the equation, as RBC Economics does with its affordability analysis, the Canadian market overall is still more affordable than at past peaks. In some cities, like Saskatoon and Calgary, houses are less affordable than in 1989, though those heights were never as pronounced as in Toronto, which still looks affordable.

Financial planners suggest a mortgage should never take up more than 32 per cent of a household's gross income, so clearly many Canadians are pushing their limits. But the saving grace has been low interest rates. Five-year fixed mortgages can still be had for around 5.99 per cent. Economists believe rates in Canada will remain quite low through 2008 and into 2009 due to continued uncertainty in the global economy.

It also offers a good comparison between the US Housing Market and Canada's.

It's here, enjoy! (found via Macleans, of course)

Canadian house prices start to slip

The IMF warns that falling real estate will hurt the economy

By Jason Kirby - Thursday, October 30, 2008


As global housing markets worsened this year, many Canadians could at least take comfort in the knowledge that even if prices here have dipped, it’s nothing compared to the carnage elsewhere—especially south of the border. That was until earlier this month, when a report in the latest issue of the International Monetary Fund’s IMF Survey found that Canada’s housing market has actually fared worse so far this year than the markets in many industrialized nations, including the U.S.

The rest of the article is here.

Widdicombs is closing

SAD NEWS!! Widdicombs (an awesome high quality vintage store) is closing! Everything is on sale now and the doors close soon...