Market update · OREB release of 2026-10-05
Ottawa Housing Market, September 2026
1,010 homes sold through the MLS® System in Ottawa in September 2026, down 6.6% from September 2025, at an average residential price of $685,640, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB). New listings rose 38.1% from August, and months of inventory reached 4.8.
Sales
What sold in Ottawa in September 2026
Sales edged up 0.8% from August, when 1,002 homes sold. OREB noted that only one of the previous ten August-to-September periods had produced an increase, and the median change was a decline of 5.9%. Every major type sold less than a year earlier:
| Property type | Sales | vs September 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family | 535 | down 4.6% |
| Townhouse | 329 | down 3.5% |
| Apartment | 121 | down 24.8% |
Apartments accounted for more than half of the net year-over-year drop in sales. Across July to September, 3,336 homes sold, down 8.2% from the same months of 2025 and the third-lowest summer total since 2016.
Prices
What prices did: average, median and benchmark
- Average residential sale price: $685,640, down 1.0% from a year earlier and nearly unchanged from August. It stayed within a range of less than 1% from July through September.
- Median sale price: $625,000, down 0.8% year over year and slightly higher than in August.
- MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark: $623,500, down 0.3% from September 2025 and down 2.2% from August.
The benchmark by property type
| Type | Benchmark | vs a year earlier | vs August |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family | $705,100 | nearly unchanged | down 3.0% |
| Townhouse | $546,500 | down 2.2% | essentially unchanged |
| Apartment | $380,800 | down 6.1% | down 3.1% |
OREB published no average dollar price for apartments. It reported that the average apartment sale price rose 0.9% year over year, while the apartment benchmark fell, which it read as a change in the mix of apartments sold supporting the average.
Reading the figures
Why the benchmark fell more than the average
Average and median prices move with the types of homes that sell in a given month: a larger share of higher-priced or detached sales can hold the average up even while values soften. The MLS® Home Price Index reduces that effect by tracking the estimated price of a representative home with consistent characteristics.
So OREB read the benchmark’s larger drop as more underlying price softness than the average and median suggest. The 2.2% monthly fall was the largest August-to-September decline in Ottawa’s series, which dates to 2005, and even after seasonal adjustment the benchmark fell 1.5%. OREB added that “one month alone does not establish a sustained price trend”.
Supply
How much choice buyers had: listings and inventory
- New listings: 2,927, up 3.0% from a year earlier and up 38.1% from August. The median August-to-September rise over the previous ten years was 12.9%.
- Active listings: 4,813, up 7.9% from September 2025 and up 7.1% from August, the second-highest September level since 2016.
- Sales-to-new-listings ratio: 34.5%, down from 47.3% in August: roughly one sale for every three new listings.
- Months of inventory: 4.8, up from 4.5. By type: single-family 4.4, townhouse 4.0, apartment 7.3.
- Selling speed: homes sold for an average of 97.5% of list price (98.1% a year earlier), and the median time on market rose from 22 to 27 days.
From July to September, 7,576 homes were newly listed, the highest total for those three months since 2016. OREB wrote that for buyers, the extra supply “may provide greater choice, more time to make decisions, and additional negotiating room”, while affordability and borrowing costs continue to constrain demand.
Submarkets
Where in Ottawa the sales happened
OREB splits Ottawa into seven submarkets. Its three suburban submarkets accounted for 734 sales, or 72.7% of the city’s total, down 8.0% from 798 in September 2025.
| OREB submarket | Months of inventory | Sales-to-new-listings |
|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Suburb West | 3.7 | 40.7% |
| Ottawa Suburb East | 4.3 | not stated |
| Ottawa Suburb South | 4.4 | not stated |
| Ottawa Centre | 6.8 | 27.6% |
| Ottawa Rural South | 6.5 | not stated |
| Ottawa Rural East | 6.3 | not stated |
| Ottawa Rural West | 5.8 | not stated |
Suburb West had the firmest absorption of the seven. OREB cautioned that rural monthly sales ranged from 40 to 88, so large percentage changes there should be read carefully. These are OREB’s submarkets, not neighbourhoods; for the areas themselves, see our Ottawa neighbourhood pages.
Year to date
Ottawa’s year to date, January to September 2026
Year to date, 10,288 homes sold in Ottawa, down 6.9% from the same period of 2025, and dollar volume was about $7.2 billion, down 7.3%.
What OREB said to watch next
OREB pointed out that new listings have declined in both October and November in each of the past ten years, so the coming months will show whether September’s influx recedes with the seasons or keeps inventory high for longer.
For your move
How to use these figures if you are buying or selling
- Selling: a city-wide average will not price your home. Start with a home evaluation and read how we sell.
- Buying: more listings and longer days on market change how you negotiate. See how we help buyers.
- Choosing an area: start with our Ottawa neighbourhoods, or every month’s figures in our Ottawa housing market updates.
- Talking it through: our Ottawa real estate agents can go through what these figures mean for the home you are buying or selling.
Every figure on this page is from the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB)’s release “Ottawa Home Sales Hold Steady in September as New Listings Rise”, published 2026-10-05. We do not publish forecasts.
Questions
Questions about the September 2026 market
How many homes sold in Ottawa in September 2026?
1,010 homes sold through the MLS® System, down 6.6% from September 2025 and up 0.8% from August, when 1,002 sold, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB).
What was the average home price in Ottawa in September 2026?
The average residential sale price was $685,640, down 1.0% from a year earlier and nearly unchanged from August. The median was $625,000.
What was the average condo price in Ottawa in September 2026?
OREB did not publish one. Its release reports apartments, not condos: an apartment benchmark price of $380,800, down 6.1% from a year earlier, and an average apartment sale price that rose 0.9% year over year, with no dollar figure given.
Is it a buyer’s market in Ottawa?
OREB wrote that new listings rose much more sharply than usual, “giving buyers greater choice and shifting market conditions further in their favour”. Among September results over the past decade, it recorded the lowest sales-to-new-listings ratio and the highest months of inventory.
Talk to us
Talk through the market with us
Tell us whether you are buying, selling or both, and a member of the team will get back to you. Or call 613-704-6145.
The Reality Group, eXp Realty, Brokerage, 75D Colonnade Road North, Nepean, ON K2E 0A8.
Sources
Each source below was read on 2026-10-14.
- Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB), Ottawa Home Sales Hold Steady in September as New Listings Rise (published 2026-10-05)