Ottawa Homes And Properties

2006-06-07T11:55:00.000-04:00

From:

http://orebweb2.oreb.ca/news_release.shtml

"Spring Market in Full Bloom

Ottawa, May 4, 2006: Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,446 residential units in April through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 1,420 in April 2005. The 1,446 units included 270 condominiums, an increase of eight per cent over last April.
“The demand for homes has remained strong,” said Board President Ron Levine. “Current market conditions are benefiting both buyers and sellers; buyers have more choices as the inventory of homes available for sale through the MLS® system has increased and sellers are seeing an increase in the average price.”

The average price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in April in the Ottawa area was $260,881, an increase of six percent over April 2005. The Board cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

..."

January '06 Ottawa Real Estate

2006-02-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

From:

http://orebweb2.oreb.ca/news_release.shtml

Steady Going for the Resale Housing Market

Ottawa, February 7, 2006: Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 653 residential units in January through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service®. There were 668 sales in January 2005.

The average price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in January in the Ottawa area was $244,075. The Board cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

“The figures for January provide some interesting information for buyers and sellers,” said Board President Ron Levine. “The inventory of properties available for sale is about nine percent higher than this time in 2005. The Ottawa real estate market is indeed “steady going” and is showing signs of similar activity to 2005.”

The Ottawa Real Estate Board is an industry association of 2,100 sales representatives and brokers in the Ottawa area. Members of the Board are also members of the Ontario and Canadian Real Estate Associations. MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used by the Board’s members to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale. MLS® commercial and residential listings are available for viewing on the Board’s internet site at www.OttawaRealEstate.org and on the national website of The Canadian Real Estate Association at www.mls.ca. Information about listings and open houses is also available in the Board’s weekly newspaper, Ottawa Real Estate Guide.

Ottawa: December and year end 2005 results

2006-01-13T14:29:00.000-05:00

From: http://orebweb2.oreb.ca/news_release.shtml

Another Solid Year for MLS® Sales
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 619 residential units in December through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® bringing the total number of sales for the year to 13,099, close to the record setting pace of 13,152 sales in 2005. There were 628 sales in December 2004.

“The resale housing market results for 2005 are proof of another solid year,” said newly elected Board President Ron Levine. “Year end inventory figures indicate there are more properties available for sale right now than a year ago, giving buyers more choices. The average price continued to climb at a steady pace throughout the year as well, resulting in a higher dollar volume of activity.”

The average price of residential properties sold in December in the Ottawa area was $242,127, and for the year the average price was $244,531. The Board cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board is an industry association of 2,100 sales representatives and brokers in the Ottawa area. Members of the Board are also members of the Ontario and Canadian Real Estate Associations and are entitled to use the term REALTOR®. MLS® is a co-operative marketing system used by the Board’s members to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale. MLS® commercial and residential listings are available for viewing on the Board’s internet site at www.OttawaRealEstate.org and on the national website of The Canadian Real Estate Association at www.mls.ca. Information about listings and open houses is also available in the Board’s weekly newspaper, Ottawa Real Estate Guide.
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Statistics for housing types or geographical areas are also available, please contact me for more information. Dan.M@rogers.com www.OttawaHomesAndProperties.com

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Storm water drainage

2005-12-19T19:18:00.000-05:00

There was a meeting at the Glebe community centre last week with respect to the storm water problems we occasionally encounter. It was not very busy, so I had the chance to get a personal explanation of what current problems exist and the possible solutions. It was quite interesting.

Here are some points:

- our part of the city (old part) has a combined storm and sewage sewer system (they've replaced some of it in the last few years, you know the streets if you live in the Glebe, the new ones are also combined),

- when we have a very heavy and quick rainfall (it is a function of time as well as volume) there is a possibility of some sewage backing up in to Central Park West (I don't believe that the East side was affected). This could happen very, very occasionally (maybe once in 50 years), and the sewage would be highly diluted by the storm water. (Remember the big storm in September 2004? I do, it was a week before my roof was scheduled to be replaced, and I spent the day in my attic with several buckets. This storm was not big enough! It lasted a long time and was quite windy, but the volume did not come quickly enough....just as an example.)

-the south west corner of Centretown (east side of Bronson, north side of Catherine) also has a potential surface flooding problem, once again, only in the worst of storms.

- storm water is considered 'dirty' and is supposed to be treated prior to release in to the Ottawa river,

- the city has several different ways of remedying the problems...all are expensive. Many of the solutions involve "buffer" sewers (I made up the term...not sure what they called it), which is basically a sewer that is used as storage of storm water while the treatment plant tries to catch up with the waste it needs to treat. They had many different versions of this with analyses.

- Of the two top contenders, one involves feeding the storm water in to Central Park West from Centretown in the worst of storms (once every 50+ years). The water would vacate within a few hours depending on the severity of the storm. This is the second choice, mostly (I believe) because streets in the parts of Centretown affected have recently been redone (Arlington?).

- The other top contender has no special new sewers for Centretown, and thus the extra surface water will not be piped to Central Park West. Both solutions do have some form of temporary "buffer" sewer for the rainwater.

Both houses I've owned have been on Central Park West. Over the last few years it seems to me that there is less and less of a problem with flooding in the park. This may be a function of the amount of snow we've gotten in the last few winters, or that the sewer system 'down stream' has gotten better able to handle the flow (or maybe the sewers are clogged at the park less often).

Prior to going to this meeting I was not aware that the north end of the Glebe (not just Central Park) has a theoretical water problem (I was aware of problems around Brown's Inlet though). The designers of the new system (I'm not sure if they were city of Ottawa people, or a third party) said that their computer simulations showed the potential of some large problems, so I guess the city needs to address this before it happens. They also figured that people in our neighbourhood complain less often....wow!

This post if from memory, and I'm sure I missed some points and maybe gave my interpretation on others. Please let me know if I made any mistakes. To get more info check out the Glebe online website (see my links to the left).

Foundation types in the Glebe (and urban Ottawa)

2005-12-19T15:56:00.000-05:00

Generally there are four types of foundations in the Glebe (and most older neighbourhoods in Ottawa). I'm not a specialist, but I can share what I (think) I know ;^) If you know more or have any questions please contact me or comment!

Stone Foundation:

Oldest type around here. Usually about 2 feet thick. Two stone walls (one inner one outer) built with a space in between that was then filled with some sort of smaller aggragate (smaller stones, sand, whatever was laying around).
Generally used up to about 1920.
The mortar between the stones needs to be fixed (repointed) every so often.
I think these look the nicest when in good shape.

Rubble Foundation:

started being used sometime in the 1920's (approx.).
looks very similar to a poured concrete foundation, but has large aggragate (stones) dropped (or pushed) in to the wall.
you probably won't see the stones as they are not very large and there is usually a parging (thin cement/mortar) veneer on the wall.
as an interesting aside, often you will see the dried cement on the roof sheathing (in the attic) as the same boards that were used for the molds were then used in construction.

Cement Block:

there are a few older infill homes with cement block foundations. I believe that most of these were built in the 50's and 60's.

Poured Concrete:

much latter construction, would probably used for "in-fill" homes.
anything from about the 1960's onward (guess).
cement is poured in to molds

Wood Foundations:

I've never seen one in the core of Ottawa, but Almonte has many homes with wood foundations.
I assume the wood is treated with special chemicals and as always it's very important to keep the water away from the foundation.

What's the most important part of keeping your foundation healthy?

Keep the water away from it!!!

How do we do that?

That's for another post.....

Please comment! Thanks.

Ottawa real estate board news

2005-12-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

Released December 6, 2005:

notes in point form:

- 908 properties sold by members of the board in November 2005 through MLS,
- compared with 932 in October 2005, and 880 in November 2004

The following is quoted from the news release, which was quoting the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) president:

"We have several observations to make following a review of the key indicators at the end of November, one being that the sales activity continues to vary among different areas of the city,"

"Our reports further indicated that approximately 44% of November sales were within the $200,000 to $300,000 price range. There were 1447 new listings in November which represent almost a 10% increase in inventory over November 2004. The average days on market for properties sold in November increased marginally to 50 days."

"Notwithstanding a slight decrease in the number of residential properties sold this year, 12,482 versus 12,524 in 2004, we continue to experience a favourable real estate market,"

Thanks for visiting

2005-12-19T15:19:00.000-05:00

Hi, in this new blog I aim to share information about real estate in the Ottawa area. I am a realtor with Royal LePage Performance Realty, located at 165 Pretoria Avenue in the Glebe (Older neighbourhood in central Ottawa). I mostly deal in older homes and buildings in the core of Ottawa.

Having owned and owned and fixed up two older homes (1910-1925) in the Glebe, I am quite familiar with the potential problems and red flags in these types of homes, and that is some of the info that I also aim to share using this blog.

Please feel free to email or call with any questions about real estate or home repair/maintenance and I'll do my best to answer your questions in person or through the blog.

Regards,

Dan Moloughney
www.OttawaHomesAndProperties.com