I found this in Ottawa's newgroup.
I'm in the same boat as you are, looking for a house and disgusted with the prices. Check out the
rental section of the Ottawa Citizen, huge numbers of homes/apartments for rent. There are plently of
forsale by owner adds as well. Check this link from a popular real estate agent. How about this
website. These are all signs of the return of a buyers market, globally, not just in Ottawa. Prices
don't increase in a buyers market. I don't think that prices are going to drop overnight, but unless the
interest rates drop significantly again, I think we're in for a "correction" of house values. Homes don't
appreciate 50% in 3 years for any other reason than hype, and the hype is starting to fade. I don't
think that we'll see a return to pre '99 prices, but I think they'll give back 25% + of the gains made in
the last three years.
Derek has had his house posted forsale since July 19th. Minto lists the same model at 185k new in
Morgans Grant and 179k in Orleans. I think Derek may be a little optimistic. Ceramic tiles and central
air don't add $20k to the value of a home. People buy new houses so they can pick what they want,
not what someone else wanted.
I work in high tech. I can assure you that this city is firmly in recession. Don't believe what the media
say's about the state of Canada's economy. In Ottawa unemployment continues to rise. All the Nortel
employees who lost their jobs last year are now just about out of money, and the majority haven't
found work yet. The ones that have aren't making 100k + anymore either.
This is just my opinion, I could be wrong, but wouldn't you be pissed off if the house you pay 200k for
this fall is worth 175k or less next fall? This happened in 92-95 and before that in the early 80's, it will
happen again. Predicting exactly when is the hard part. Good luck.
I'm in the same boat as you are, looking for a house and disgusted with the prices. Check out the
rental section of the Ottawa Citizen, huge numbers of homes/apartments for rent. There are plently of
forsale by owner adds as well. Check this link from a popular real estate agent. How about this
website. These are all signs of the return of a buyers market, globally, not just in Ottawa. Prices
don't increase in a buyers market. I don't think that prices are going to drop overnight, but unless the
interest rates drop significantly again, I think we're in for a "correction" of house values. Homes don't
appreciate 50% in 3 years for any other reason than hype, and the hype is starting to fade. I don't
think that we'll see a return to pre '99 prices, but I think they'll give back 25% + of the gains made in
the last three years.
Derek has had his house posted forsale since July 19th. Minto lists the same model at 185k new in
Morgans Grant and 179k in Orleans. I think Derek may be a little optimistic. Ceramic tiles and central
air don't add $20k to the value of a home. People buy new houses so they can pick what they want,
not what someone else wanted.
I work in high tech. I can assure you that this city is firmly in recession. Don't believe what the media
say's about the state of Canada's economy. In Ottawa unemployment continues to rise. All the Nortel
employees who lost their jobs last year are now just about out of money, and the majority haven't
found work yet. The ones that have aren't making 100k + anymore either.
This is just my opinion, I could be wrong, but wouldn't you be pissed off if the house you pay 200k for
this fall is worth 175k or less next fall? This happened in 92-95 and before that in the early 80's, it will
happen again. Predicting exactly when is the hard part. Good luck.
