April 2025 – Ottawa Real Estate Board

OREB Congratulates Prime Minister Mark Carney and Calls for Action on Housing Affordability

On behalf of more than 4,000 REALTOR® Members, the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) congratulates Prime Minister Mark Carney on his election victory. We also extend our gratitude to Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh, and all candidates across party lines for their dedication and willingness to serve Canadians through public office.

To the candidates in the Ottawa region, thank you for putting your name on a ballot. We congratulate and look forward to working with Bruce Fanjoy, Jenna Sudds, Marie-France Lalonde, Yasir Naqvi, David McGuinty, Mona Fortier, Anita Vandenbeld, and Giovanna Mangiarelli, on key housing issues and solutions.

Prime Minister Mark Carney assumes office at a pivotal time for Canadians. Pressing challenges like housing affordability, strained infrastructure, and economic uncertainty—exacerbated by trade challenges—demand strong and steady leadership. OREB is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to fulfill his commitment to addressing housing supply and affordability.

Ottawa’s housing needs are growing and evolving. From first-time buyers to families and newcomers, residents across the capital are feeling the pressure of limited housing supply and rising costs. These conditions are similar across the country.

When people can find a place to live that meets their needs and fits their budget—when businesses can grow because talent can stay—when young Canadians can picture a future of stability and ownership—Canada wins.

OREB is ready to work with the federal government to accelerate home construction, reduce red tape, and improve conditions across the housing landscape—from making homeownership more attainable, to supporting renters, and strengthening the commercial real estate environment.

Paul Czan,

OREB President

Get Out and Vote: Housing is on the Ballot

Canadians head to the polls on Monday, April 28, 2025, and it’s clear — housing is on the ballot.

To help our Members make an informed vote, OREB has compiled a summary of where the federal parties stand on key housing and real estate issues. Below, you will find a comparison table that outlines the housing policies of the major political parties. This information will help you understand how the next government in Ottawa will impact your business.

Throughout this campaign, OREB has reminded candidates that housing isn’t just a local issue — it’s a national economic concern. OREB has called for bold action to address the supply crisis, lower taxes on new homes, modernize development approvals, and restore affordability for buyers and renters alike.

Let’s make the REALTOR® voice heard in this campaign. Get out and vote. Here’s what you need to know:

Voting day is Monday, April 28th, 2025
Polls are open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Find your polling location and ID requirements at: www.elections.ca

We encourage you to read the comparison table below to see where each party stands on housing issues:

Conservative Party of Canada	Liberal Party of Canada	New Democratic Party of Canada	Green Party of Canada
Build 2.3 million homes over the next five years.	Create Build Canada Homes (BCH) to get the federal government back into the business of building affordable homes at scale, including on public lands partnering with builders. Target of 500,000 homes a year.	Encourage cities to build more homes, faster, by creating the new $8 billion Canadian Homes Transfer over four years. This plan is expected to help build more than 3 million homes.	Use covenants to make sure housing built with public money stays affordable forever.
Reimburse municipalities 50%, up to a maximum of $50,000 in savings for new homebuyers, for every dollar of relief a municipality offers in development charges.	Cut municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing for a period of five years to lower the cost of homebuilding and make housing more affordable.	Encourage provinces to build more housing through a $8 billion Communities First Fund. This fund will help expand the water, sewage, and infrastructure foundations needed to support new housing.	Close loopholes to stop criminals from using real estate to launder money.
Eliminate the sales tax on new homes under $1.3 million, which will save homebuyers up to $65,000.	Eliminate the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for first-time homebuyers on homes at or under $1 million.	Set aside 100% of suitable federal crown land to build over 100,000 rent-controlled homes by 2035.	Eliminate the unfair tax advantages for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
Permit any person or business selling an asset to pay no capital gains tax when they reinvest the proceeds in Canada. Companies that reinvest in active Canadian businesses will also defer any capital gains tax.	Reintroduce the Multiple Unit Rental Building (MURB) cost allowance.	Require strong tenant protection measures from other levels of government as a condition for accessing federal housing funding. Introduce national rent control.	Stop corporations from buying up single family homes.
Sell off 6,000 federal buildings and thousands of acres of federal land to build new homes.	Reduce housing bureaucracy, zoning restrictions, and other red tape to have builders navigate one housing market, instead of 13.	Ban predatory financial landlords from buying any existing purpose-built rental apartments and any of Canada’s existing 650,000 social housing units.	Build 1.2 million permanently affordable homes (non-market rental or cooperative) over seven years.
Create 350,000 positions for trade schools and union halls to train red-seal apprentices to build homes, and we will bring back the $4000 apprenticeship grant that the Liberals plan to eliminate.	Provide an Apprenticeship Grant of up to $8,000 for registered apprentices.	Establish a Housing Insecurity Prevention Benefit to help 50,000 people in critical need find homes.	Restore the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) mandate to directly finance and develop non-market housing, as it did from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Identify 15% of federal land and buildings to sell in cities within the first 100 days of a new Conservative Government.	Facilitate the conversion of existing structures into affordable housing units.	Deliver a major home retrofit program to 2.3 million low-income households and offer grants and low-interest loans to 1 million more.	Require CMHC to provide long-term, low-interest loans to nonprofits, co-ops, and public housing agencies, cutting out private lenders to lower costs and accelerate the development of non-market homes.
Simplify the National Building Code, making it more affordable to safely build homes, while giving maximum flexibility for new materials and building methods.	Stand up Canada’s high-risk flood insurance program by April 2026 to support homeowners to reduce their exposure to future climate risk.	Maintain the two-thirds capital gains inclusion rate changes.	Mandate CMHC to establish five regional prefab/modular housing plants to mass-produce affordable housing.
	Act as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands.	Require cities to allow more multi-unit homes in all neighbourhoods.	Create a dedicated infrastructure funding stream under the National Housing Strategy to support student housing development, supplementing investments by colleges and universities.
Cut red tape for builders and tradespeople, working with provinces to harmonize building code regulations.	Provide over $25 billion in financing to innovative prefabricated home builders in Canada.	Require more housing near public transit routes;	Expand the use of CMHC’s rental construction financing initiative to post-secondary institutions, incentivizing them to build affordable student housing.
Remove the requirement to report the sale of your home to the CRA.	Provide $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable home builders.		Increase the Canada Rental Protection Fund to help nonprofits acquire existing rental buildings and keep them permanently affordable.
	Publicly report on municipalities’ progress to speed up permitting and approval timelines and implement other commitments under the Housing Accelerator Fund.	Provide guidelines for using Canadian-made materials like steel, cement, and mass timber.	Extend the existing GST removal for developers of for-profit rental housing to include all homes built for affordable home ownership through organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
Scrap the Underused (Vacant) Housing Tax that costs more to administer than is collected in taxes.	Eliminate duplicate inspections and streamline regulations for prefabricated housing, including modular.	Support building prefabricated homes to help meet tight timelines.	Mandate CMHC to establish five regional prefab/modular housing plants to mass-produce affordable housing.
Tie infrastructure funding to cities that permit over 15% more homebuilding annually and reducing funding for those that fall short.	Leverage pre-approved, standardized housing designs across all public lands and encourage its adoption as-of-right across the country;	Freeze development charge increases and work with provinces to halve development charges that hold up construction.	Eliminate the GST on non-market housing construction materials.
Hold back federal dollars from cities that raise building fees or block needed development.	Speed up application approvals by allowing builders and other orders of government to apply for multiple projects at once.	Speed up permits and approvals so homes can get built faster.	Redesign and expand the Public Land Acquisition Fund, creating a dedicated, multi-year fund to bring more private land into public ownership for the construction of non-market affordable housing.

OREB Takes ‘Team Canada’ Approach on U.S. Travel and Economic Impact

As part of a broader ‘Team Canada’ response to ongoing U.S. tariffs and economic disruption, OREB’s Board of Directors has accepted a recommendation from the Governance Committee to pause all board-related travel to the United States, unless otherwise approved by the Committee.

This decision aligns with actions being taken across all levels of government, business, and industry to support Canadian interests during this time. The policy will be reviewed in late 2025.

OREB remains committed to investing in Canadian opportunities and partnerships that benefit our Members and the broader real estate community.

Ottawa Housing Market Shows Stability as Spring Momentum Builds

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) totaled 1,103 units in March 2025. This represented a 6.2% decline from March 2024.

Home sales were 24% below the five-year average and 19.3% below the 10-year average for the month of March.

“The Ottawa housing market in March 2025 remained relatively stable, with sales activity slightly lower than the same period last year,” said OREB President Paul Czan. “However, we’re seeing continued momentum month-over-month as the spring market gains traction. Both buyers and sellers are exercising some caution—likely due to economic uncertainty and the upcoming election—but the current lower interest rates are encouraging more activity as they step off the sidelines.”

“Looking ahead, the ongoing trade and tariff concerns could affect new construction and further exacerbate supply challenges,” Czan adds. “So, it’s critical that the City of Ottawa continues collaborating with key stakeholders. We were pleased to take part in discussions around the proposed New Zoning By-Law, which prioritizes housing options and opportunities to maximize options for Ottawa’s residents.”

By the Numbers – Prices:

The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $626,200 in March 2025, a 2.2% rise compared to March 2024.
- The benchmark price for single-family homes was $698,700, up 2.7% year-over-year in March.
- By comparison, the benchmark price for a townhouse/row unit was $431,200, an increase of 3.0% from 2024.
- The benchmark apartment price was $400,900, a 4.3% decline from the previous year.
The average price of homes sold in March 2025 was $685,866, unchanged from March 2024.
The total dollar volume of all home sales in March 2025 amounted to $756.5 million, a 6.2% drop compared to the same period last year.

By the Numbers – Inventory & New Listings:

The number of new listings rose by 4.1% compared to March 2024, with 2,221 new residential properties added to the market. New listings were 0.7% below the five-year average and 2.2% below the 10-year average for the month of March.
Active residential listings totaled 4,319 units at the end of March 2025, reflecting a substantial 60.3% surge from March 2024. Active listings were 92.7% above the five-year average and 49.5% above the 10-year average for the month of March.
Months of inventory stood at 3.9 at the end of March 2025, compared to 2.3 in March 2024. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

Ottawa Real Estate Board’s Statement on the 2025 Federal Election

The 2025 federal election comes at a time of profound economic uncertainty. Global trade disruptions, rising inflation, and the looming threat of renewed U.S. tariffs have put pressure on Canada’s economic resilience. Amid these challenges, there is no path to long-term economic stability without tackling Canada and Ottawa’s housing affordability and supply crisis.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) is calling on all federal parties to treat housing as a national economic priority— and to back it up with real policy change. Housing is not just a social issue it is economic infrastructure. If workers and families cannot afford to live where jobs are, if employers cannot attract talent, and if young people have no path to ownership, Canada loses. Canada must dramatically lower the cost of building new homes and increase the speed by which they are brought to market. OREB is urging all federal parties to adopt three key recommendations:

1. Lower taxes and charges that block homebuilding

In many parts of Canada, government taxes & fees represent over a third of the final purchase costs of a new home. In Canada, we tax housing like we want less of it – not more. Eliminating the GST on all new homes under $1 million is a great first step. Canada must step up with more support for local governments to help them with the costs of housing enabling infrastructure. We cannot continue to tax housing so heavily if we want to build more of it.

2. Streamline approvals to speed up supply.

Excessive red tape is slowing down housing construction across the country. The federal government must work with provinces and municipalities to create performance-based funding models that reward faster, more predictable planning timelines. Here in Ottawa, this should include making it easier to accelerate the disposition of federal lands for affordable housing.

3. Accelerate innovation in housing.

Whether it’s factory-built modular homes or AI supported permitting platforms, innovation must be part of the solution to build more homes. The federal government can lead by offering tax credits, grants to municipalities and investing in housing sector research.

When it comes to clearing the way for more housing, its time to get our elbows up. A stronger more economically resilient Canada must include affordable homes for workers and families.

Paul Czan
2025 OREB President