Ottawa new housing grows by 75 per cent, dominated by townhouses

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Zonda Ottawa: Traditional, stacked and condo apartment comparision (2024)

Zonda Ottawa townhouses by market (2024)

Affordability of stacked units represents nearly half of the market rebound

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 21, 2025 /CNW/ -- Zonda Urban reports that 2,079 multi-family units sold in 2024 in the Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) — a 75 per cent increase over 2023.

• Volume was driven by the sale of 1,997 new townhouses, with demand rising 72 per cent year-over-year. Some 858 townhouses sold in Q4-2024, up 84 per cent from a year ago.
• New condominium apartments saw an uptick from the previous year at 82 sales, a 204 per cent increase; however, the market for new apartments remains stagnant with a standing inventory of 225 unsold and built units in the Ottawa CMA at the end of 2024.

New master-planned communities in Ottawa's west and southwest led in townhouse sales during the year. Barrhaven and Stittsville accounted for 52 per cent of all 2024 townhouse sales, with a further quarter of activity found in Kanata and Orleans.

Overall, new Ottawa townhouses, including stacked and traditional units, sold for an average of $584,532 as of Q4-2024.

Fourteen new townhouse developments opened for sales in 2024 with an absorption rate of 67 per cent of released units by the end of Q4-2024 and an average sold price of $490,963.

• Affordability was the key factor with nearly half of new units brought to the market being stacked, with an average sold price of $387,150 (1,066 square feet average unit size).
• At an average size of 1,801 square feet, traditional townhouses in newly launched developments sold for an average $588,334 in 2024.
• Just two low-rise new condominium apartment projects launched in the Ottawa market during 2024, selling at an average end-selling price of $431,293 (727 square feet).

"Ground related townhouses really are the engine of this market," says Pauline Lierman, Zonda Urban vice president of market research. "By late 2023, Ottawa Region developers were already reworking their product and pricing, offering more stacked towns and compact traditional towns — the latter often marketed as 'urban' units in the 1,600 to 1,700 per square foot range, and priced below $650,000. The shift paid off during 2024 with buyers re-emerging."

Zonda Urban anticipates this trend will remain throughout 2025 with relatively affordable price points in the newer Ottawa suburban communities.

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