Ottawa families camp out for days to scoop up new homes

Hopeful home buyers in Ottawa are lining up to scoop up real estate as quickly as possible, some even spending days outside to be the first ones through the door.

Many were seen camping outside a sales office in Orléans, all competing for 12 new builds that were released at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

For four nights, Aimee Siu and her husband have camped outside the Minto Avalon Vista new homes sales centre on Tenth Line Road waiting for the release of the homes.

“My husband and I took turns and our in-laws took turns, so we took turns all being here and sleeping overnight,” Siu said Saturday.

“‘We waited since Tuesday, pretty much living here and so, we are very excited.”

All the homes will qualify for the new Ontario HST rebate that allows eligible buyers to not pay the tax and potentially save them tens of thousands of dollars.

The province says new builds valued up to $1.5 million would be eligible for a maximum rebate of $130,000.

“Extremely tired,” said Siu. “My husband and I have been taking three hour shifts every night.”

The potential for savings is a big draw for others who chose to brave an evening outside.

“For the prices we have right now, it’s $80,000 or $90,000 at least,” said Ramy Gerges, referring to the amount they would be saving.

“That was a big advantage for us.”

A spokesperson for Minto says it has seen lineups at other communities in the past two months since the announcement of the enhanced HST rebate.

“The announcement has helped to revive the Ottawa new home sales market, which was a much-needed boost to homebuyers,” Minto said in an email.

“One example of how the HST rebate has helped is that we are now able to offer our entry level Metro Townhomes in Kanata and Barrhaven for as low as $308,000 - a price point will help to get first-time home buyers into the market, and also renew interest for investors.”

Many who work in real estate say it’s a telling sign of where the industry is as families look to make savings where they can.

“We’re looking at an average home in the $800,000 range and you’re talking about $104,000 HST rebates, so automatically that brings you down below $700,000,” said Ottawa mortgage broker Frank Napolitano.

While Siu and her husband were successful and got their home, they won’t be able move in until November 2027.

“It was nice because we really got to know our neighbours who we are going to be next to, so it felt kind of like the start of a community,” said Siu.

The tax relief measure is set to expire next year.