Ottawa Remains a Buyer-Friendly Housing Market

The bidding wars seen in other Canadian markets — such as Calgary and Toronto — don’t seem to be affecting Ottawa real estate nearly as much.

By Josh Sherman | 2 minute read

Wahi looks at the differences between listing and sale prices to determine whether an Ottawa neighbourhood is in overbidding or underbidding territory. 

Buyers remain in the driver’s seat in the Ottawa real estate market even as some other Ontario cities have started to see bidding wars ramp up, according to new analysis from Wahi. 

During the first quarter of the year, only two neighbourhoods (2%) in Ottawa were in overbidding territory — and just barely. Constance Bay and Woodroffe – Lincoln Heights were the city’s lone overbidding neighbourhoods between the start of January and the end of March with median overbid amounts of $100 and $50, respectively. Several other neighbourhoods (Rockcliffe – Manor Park, Barrhaven, and South Keys – Heron Gate – Greenboro West) were selling at-asking. 

Meanwhile, 94% of Ottawa neighbourhoods saw homes selling for under-asking. Four neighbourhoods were excluded because they did not see at least three transactions over the three-month period. The top underbidding neighbourhoods had median underbid amounts ranging from $24,900 to $60,000. 

Wahi uses the median underbid (and overbid) amounts to rank the top underbidding (and overbidding) neighbourhoods. The median overbid and underbid amounts are calculated by subtracting the sold price from the list price of each individual listing in a given neighbourhood. These are then ranked by the median of all subtractions and presented as the median overbid or underbid amount. In the first quarter, the most underbid neighbourhoods were split between the downtown area and the western part of Ottawa. The prices in these communities were generally higher than those in the leading overbid and at-asking neighbourhoods.

Overall, the Ottawa market’s performance is similar — although slightly more active in comparison — to what was seen during the same period last year. In 2023’s first quarter, the share of overbidding neighbourhoods was 1% and the remaining 99% of neighbourhoods were in underbidding territory. Ottawa’s less-competitive bidding environment stands in stark contrast to some other major Canadian markets. For example, in Toronto 43% of neighbourhoods are in overbidding territory. Meanwhile, Calgary continues to be a sellers market. Wahi will continue to monitor the Ottawa market on a quarterly basis.