The average sale price of a residential-class property in Ottawa broke the half-million-dollar mark in November as homebuyers continued to snap up what little inventory was available in a red-hot market.

Local realtors sold 1,288 houses last month, a 10.9 per cent increase over November 2018 and more than 13 per cent higher than the five-year average of 1,133 transactions for the month, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board.

“Even with the typical winter slowdown, Ottawa’s home resale market still experienced a relatively brisk pace in November,” OREB president Dwight Delahunt said in a statement. “Our inventory is not having a chance to build as it is being absorbed as quickly as it comes on the market.”

At total of 958 residential-class properties ​– which include detached, semi-detached and multi-unit homes ​– changed hands in November, up 10.5 per cent from a year ago. They sold for an average of $501,201, a whopping 16.9 per cent rise from the same period in 2018.

The average condo price also rose substantially in November, increasing nearly 10 per cent year-over-year to $313,734. Realtors sold 330 condos last month, up 12.2 per cent from a year earlier.

“Prices have increased, and therefore there is a shortage of units available in the lower-end price range of both condos and residential properties,” Delahunt said.

The $350,000-to-$499,999 price range continued to be the most popular for residential-class properties in November, accounting for nearly 39 per cent of transactions. But homes in the $500,000-to-$749,999 bracket continued to claim a growing portion of overall sales, rising from 28 per cent of all transactions in September to 32 per cent last month.

Nearly 58 per cent of all condos sold last month were in the $225,000-to-$349,999 range.

Delahunt also noted “substantial increases” in sales at the higher end of the residential-class market compared with a year ago.

Realtors sold 65 properties in the $750,000-to-$1 million range last month, compared with 24 such transactions in November 2018. In addition, 29 properties fetched a price of more than $1 million, nearly double the total of 15 from a year earlier.

Since the start of 2019, home sales in the $750,000-to-$1 million bracket are up 41 per cent over last year, rising from 610 to 861. Transactions in the seven-figure range have risen 30 per cent over 2018, from 266 to 345.