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In sharp contrast, the price of homes sold by Ottawa Real Estate Board members has been roughly stable from April to June.

Even so, the gap between the two markets remains enormous when it comes to key categories such as single-family homes. The price of a detached home in the Toronto area (area codes 416 and 905) in June was nearly $1.1 million, up 7.8 per cent year over year.

In Ottawa, the average two-storey house sold for $458,100 in June, up 8.9 per cent compared to June 2016.

Board president-elect Ralph Shaw points out average prices locally were boosted by an unusually large number of transactions involving high-end homes. In June, realtors sold 46 units for more than $1 million each, more than double the number during the same month a year ago.

To get around this type of distortion, the Board relies on benchmark prices it developed along with other regional agencies. These are based on an index that reflects multiple housing characteristics such as roof type, number of bathrooms and age of the property, and offers a more consistent view of underlying trends.

The June benchmark showed that single-family homes across Ottawa sold for an average $393,200, up 6.2 per cent from June 2016.

The statistic suggests a couple of distinct patterns are emerging in Ottawa’s suddenly buoyant housing market.

Nearly 40 per cent of 45 real estate districts tracked by the Board saw double-digit gains in June in the sale price of single-family homes compared to a year earlier. It’s probably no coincidence that the biggest bumps were recorded in corridors that follow the western and southern spurs of the city’s developing light-rail system.