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A couple of nearby areas were also popular with homebuyers. The districts either side of Mooney’s Bay saw the benchmark price for single-family homes surge 19.7 per cent (west side) and 17.4 per cent (east side) to $477,800 and $455,800 respectively.

Another region reporting robust sales is actually a long strip running along the Ottawa River from Hintonburg (just west of downtown) to Britannia Heights (near the new headquarters for the Department of National Defence). Nearly every district along this route recorded double-digit gains in the sale price of single-family homes in July, and some of these areas were already fairly expensive.

For instance, consider the Carlingwood-Westboro district, bordered on the west by Woodroffe Avenue, on the east by Churchill Ave. The Ottawa River forms the northern boundary. The benchmark price for single-family homes in July jumped 11.5 per cent to $758,400 compared to July 2016 — making it the third most expensive district after Rockcliffe Park ($1,568,800 in July, up 8.4 per cent) and New Edinburgh-Lindenlea ($779,700, up 12.6 per cent year over year.)

Indeed, the relatively robust gains for home sellers in the ritziest areas is a marked shift from earlier this year, when year-over-year price changes were slight or even negative.

It’s a sign that the high end of the market is relatively strong.

The weakest part of the Ottawa real estate market in July was in the east. To put it another way, this is where you can find the best prices for single-family homes. The three real estate districts reporting the smallest gains in home values are Orleans-Cumberland (up 2.6 per cent year over year), Vanier (up 3.2 per cent) and Blackburn Hamlet (up 3.4 per cent). The benchmark price in each case was below $400,000.

The benchmark price is based on an index that reflects multiple housing characteristics such as roof type, number of bathrooms and the age of the property. It’s considered a better way of discerning underlying trends in the housing market than more conventional measures such as average prices. For those who prefer the latter, prices for Ottawa homes sold through the multiple listing service climbed 5.3 per cent year over year in July, reaching $420,335. The average sale price for condominiums was $267,640, up 2.8 per cent during the same period.