Ottawa sees record new home construction

A record number of new homes began building in Ottawa last year as real estate agents warn that lack of supply is a major problem in the housing market.

The City of Ottawa’s Annual Development Report for 2020 shows 9,239 new homes were newly built in 2020, most in one year since the merger in 2001.

The 9,239 housing starts in 2020 are 30.7 percent more than in 2019.

In terms of residential construction, 3,816 residential units, 2,733 terraced houses, 2,439 single-family houses and 251 semi-detached houses were built.

In 2020, a total of 11,339 residential unit permits were issued, 20.3 percent more than in 2019 and most of the permits since the merger.

The proportion of residential permits issued within the green belt rose from 36.5 percent in 2019 to 50.4 percent of all permits in 2020.

“This increase was due to a large number of housing units receiving building permits within the green belt in 2020,” the staff said in a report for the planning committee meeting on Monday.

According to staff, 43.56 percent of the new units that had approved were located near existing LRT stations in Ottawa, Maintstreets, and the Central Area of ​​Ottawa.

A new report this week has raised concerns about the level of supply in the Ottawa housing market.

“Supply is likely to increase slightly in 2022, but low levels are likely to remain a cause for concern,” Remax said in its housing market outlook, adding that house prices will rise five percent in 2022.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board said last month that the only way to find “equilibrium” in the Ottawa real estate market is to “exponentially” increase the housing supply.

The population of Ottawa rose 1.6 percent in 2020 to 1,022,604.

At the end of 2020, there were 435,747 households in Ottawa, 1.6 percent more than the previous year.