Sellers will need the help of professional Realtors more than ever.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board says the October home sales numbers show a typical lull for this time of year, but active listings are at a five-year high.

The latest figures from OREB show 816 homes and condominiums were sold in Ottawa in October, down 2.7 per cent compared to October 2022.

But OREB also says active residential listings numbered 3,062 units on the market at the end of October, a gain of 16.7 per cent from the end of October 2022.

"Active listings haven't been this high in the month of October in more than five years," a news release says.

There were 1,895 new residential listings in October 2023.

The average price for a single-family home in the city was $660,836 last month, up 2.9 per cent compared to last October, but down from $675,412 in September.

There were 10,700 units sold in the first 10 months of the 2023, a 12.3 decline from the same period in 2022.

"We're seeing a slow decline in sales activity but it's minimal and not unexpected for this time of year," said OREB president Ken Dekker. "Prices are adjusting and coming down, which is also indicative of the types of homes that are selling — apartments seeing the largest increase in sales activity over last October."

Source CTV news, Nov. 8, 2023