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Condo sellers in some areas of the city did do rather well. In the west end, for instance, agents sold 41 condos for an average of $358,300 — up 19 per cent from November 2017. Similarly, in the downtown core, 50 condo owners fetched an average of $417,200 — up 16 per cent year over year. Condo units in the south sold for an average of $254,700 — a gain of 11 per cent over the same period — while the average sale price for condos in the east was $245,300 — a drop of nearly 26 per cent year over year. Relatively small volumes may have been a factor in the east.

Sales activity declined in the market for single family homes, more than usual for this time of year, with 870 sales in November compared to 938 a year earlier. This left about 2,600 active listings at the end of the month compared to 3,200 on Nov. 30, 2017.

Benchmark price gains for single family homes averaged 7.1 per cent across Ottawa (to $432,300) but sales momentum varied considerably by district, ranging from 12 per cent hikes year over year (to $540,500) in Hintonburg-West Centretown to zero gains for McKellar Heights ($560,600) and Carlsbad Springs ($331,900).

In general, the biggest price increases for single family homes were in the west, though some previous hot spots appeared to be cooling off, perhaps reflecting some price resistance. In Carlingwood-Westboro, for example, benchmark home prices were nearly $788,000 in November, up a comparatively modest four per cent. Not only is this district now considerably more pricey than the fashionable Glebe area ($748,000 — up 8.1 per cent), it’s within reach of New Edinburgh-Lindenlea ($798,600 — up 3.6 per cent), home to many top mandarins and diplomats.

Only Rockcliffe Park is home to more expensive properties — the benchmark price in November was $1.6 million, up 5.6 per cent.

Seven of 46 real estate districts tracked by the board still feature benchmark prices below $400,000 on average. It’s notable that three of them were in the group that posted the fastest growing house prices year over year. These included: Tanglewood-Grenfell Glen-Pineglen ($381,700 — up 10.3 per cent), Orléans-Cumberland ($393,800 — a gain of 9.3 per cent) and Vanier ($367,000 — up 8.7 per cent).

This suggests a hunt for bargains is well underway.