Slow rise in Ottawa house prices despite collapse in inventory

When available residential listings fall 20 per cent year over year — as they did last month in Ottawa — you would expect a fairly significant rise in the price of properties sold. Instead, average prices edged up just 1.5 per cent to $432,800 compared with a year earlier, according to multiple-listing data published Tuesday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board.
The pattern is even more dramatic when viewed over a two-year perspective.  The number of January listings — consisti