OTTAWA REAL ESTATE
Ottawa Real Estate Market Update — September 2026
The Ottawa real estate market update for September 2026 comes down to one shift: sales held steady, but supply jumped. Buyers recorded 1,010 purchases, almost exactly August’s total, while 2,927 new listings came to market, up 38.1% in a single month. That pushed Ottawa further toward buyer-friendly conditions and produced the largest August-to-September drop in the MLS® Home Price Index since OREB’s series began in 2005.
In short: Ottawa is still a functioning, balanced-to-soft market, not a falling one. But for the first time this year, the underlying price measure is moving more than the headline averages suggest, and that gap matters for anyone pricing a home or writing an offer this fall.
September 2026 at a Glance
| Metric | September 2026 | vs. September 2025 | vs. August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes sold | 1,010 | −6.6% | +0.8% |
| Average sale price | $685,640 | −1.0% | −0.4% |
| Median sale price | $625,000 | −0.8% | +0.4% |
| MLS® HPI composite benchmark | $623,500 | −0.3% | −2.2% |
| New listings | 2,927 | +3.0% | +38.1% |
| Active listings | 4,813 | +7.9% | +7.1% |
| Sales-to-new-listings ratio | 34.5% | — | down from 47.3% |
| Months of inventory | 4.8 | — | up from 4.5 |
| Sale-to-list price ratio | 97.5% | down from 98.1% | — |
| Median days on market | 27 | up from 22 | — |
Month-over-month changes for average and median price are calculated from OREB’s August and September figures. All other figures are as reported by OREB.
Year to date, 10,288 homes have sold in Ottawa, down 6.9% from the same point in 2025, on roughly $7.2 billion in dollar volume (down 7.3%).
Price Trends by Property Type
| Property type | Sept 2026 sales | Sales vs. Sept 2025 | HPI benchmark price | Benchmark vs. Sept 2025 | Benchmark vs. Aug 2026 | Months of inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family | 535 | −4.6% | $705,100 | Nearly unchanged | −3.0% | 4.4 |
| Townhouse | 329 | −3.5% | $546,500 | −2.2% | Essentially unchanged | 4.0 |
| Apartment/condo | 121 | −24.8% | $380,800 | −6.1% | −3.1% | 7.3 |
Three different stories sit inside that table.
Single-family homes are still the steadiest segment year over year, but they drove most of September’s monthly benchmark decline. A 3.0% one-month drop in the detached benchmark is unusual for Ottawa and is the number I’ll be watching most closely in October.
Townhomes were the opposite. After months of softening earlier in 2026, the townhouse benchmark held flat from August, and sales were down only 3.5% from last year. Townhouse sellers had a quieter month than detached sellers.
Condo apartments remain the clearest pressure point. Sales fell by roughly a quarter, accounting for more than half of the city’s total year-over-year drop. Months of inventory jumped from 6.3 to 7.3, and only 27 condos sold for every 100 that were listed. OREB notes the average apartment sale price actually rose 0.9% year over year, but the benchmark fell 6.1%, which tells you the condos that did sell skewed toward the better units.
For more on condos, see our Ottawa condo market report.
Why the Average Price and the Benchmark Price Are Telling Different Stories
If you read only the headlines, September looks calm: the average price barely moved from August and sits just 1.0% below last year. The benchmark, though, fell 2.2% in a month. Both numbers are accurate. They measure different things.
The average sale price is simply the total value of homes sold divided by the number sold. It shifts with the mix. When detached homes make up a large share of sales, as they did in September (535 of 1,010, or about 53%), and condo sales collapse, the average gets pulled up even if individual homes are selling for less than they would have a month earlier.
The MLS® HPI benchmark prices a “typical” home with consistent features over time, so a change in which homes happened to sell doesn’t distort it. When the benchmark drops while the average holds, the honest reading is that like-for-like values softened, and the mix of sales hid it.
That’s what happened in September. OREB adds that even after adjusting for normal seasonal patterns, the benchmark fell 1.5%, also the largest September decline on record. The board is careful to say one month doesn’t make a trend, and I agree. But it’s a signal worth respecting.
What this means in practice: if you’re a seller, your neighbour’s sale from June is not a reliable price guide right now. If you’re a buyer, a listing priced off the spring market may have room to move. In both cases, a current comparable-sales analysis matters more than citywide averages. That’s the whole point of a proper comparative market analysis.
Sell Your Ottawa Home for Just 1% Listing Commission
Why pay 2.5% listing commission to sell your home when you don't have to? Jason Polonski lists Ottawa homes for a simple 1% listing commission. Full MLS® and REALTOR.ca exposure, professional photography, powerful online marketing, expert pricing, and a skilled negotiator fighting for every dollar of your sale price. Top-tier service — you just keep thousands more when your home sells. Smart sellers are already making the switch. Your home deserves the best, and your wallet deserves a break.
Sales Activity and Inventory: Supply Did the Moving
September’s softening didn’t come from buyers disappearing. Sales actually rose slightly from August, which only happened once in the previous ten Augusts-to-Septembers. What changed was the flood of new listings.
- New listings rose 38.1% from August. The typical August-to-September increase over the last decade was 12.9%.
- July through September brought 7,576 new listings, the highest total for those three months since 2016, while sales over the same period were the third-lowest since 2016.
- Active listings reached 4,813, the second-highest September level since 2016.
- The sales-to-new-listings ratio fell to 34.5% — roughly one sale for every three new listings — the lowest September reading in ten years.
- Months of inventory rose to 4.8, the highest September level of the past decade.
The summer as a whole was uneven. Sales dropped about 24% from July to August, then stabilized in September. The three-month total of 3,336 sales was down 8.2% from 2025. OREB’s read is that September was a pause after a weak August, not the start of a rebound.
Where activity is happening. The suburbs carried the market: Ottawa’s three suburban submarkets accounted for 734 sales, or 72.7% of the city total, though each one sold fewer homes than last September. Ottawa Suburb West had the firmest absorption of all seven submarkets, with a 40.7% sales-to-new-listings ratio and 3.7 months of inventory. Suburb East (4.3 months) and Suburb South (4.4 months) were close to the city average.
Downtown and rural markets were softer. Ottawa Centre posted a 27.6% sales-to-new-listings ratio and 6.8 months of inventory, reflecting its heavy condo mix. The rural submarkets ranged from 5.8 months (Rural West) to 6.5 months (Rural South). Rural sales volumes are small, 40 to 88 transactions a month, so large percentage swings there should be read cautiously.
Get Cash Back When You Buy a Home in Ottawa
Can you get cash back when buying a home in Ottawa? Yes. Jason Polonski, a Chairman's Club REALTOR® serving Ottawa and Kanata, shares part of his commission with buyers — up to $3,000 cash back at closing.* You still get full-service, award-winning representation: expert pricing, sharp negotiation, and hands-on guidance from first showing to keys in hand. No cut corners and no rebate-only shortcuts — just real money back in your pocket when you buy your Ottawa or Kanata home.
What’s Coming in October and November
The key question now is whether September’s listing surge was seasonal or something stickier. OREB points out that new listings have dropped in both October and November in each of the past ten years. If that pattern holds, absorption should improve and some of September’s pressure eases on its own.
If it doesn’t — if the sales-to-new-listings ratio stays in the mid-30s, inventory stays near five months and the benchmark keeps falling — the case for a broader price adjustment gets stronger.
A few outside factors are worth keeping in view:
- Forecasts point to flat-to-slightly-lower prices. TD Economics expects Ontario resale prices to average 2.6% lower in 2026 with only 0.6% growth in 2027. RBC forecasts Canada’s benchmark falling 2.3% in 2026 before edging up 0.8% in 2027. CMHC’s Ottawa outlook expects sales to stabilize, with growing supply limiting price gains. These cover different areas and measures, so they aren’t directly comparable to Ottawa’s monthly numbers, but they all lean the same way.
- New construction may be pulling some buyers away from resale. The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association reported 464 new-home sales in August, up 55.2% from a year earlier, with year-to-date new-home sales up 50.4%. That surge lines up with expanded HST relief on qualifying new homes. OREB is careful not to call it cause and effect, but stronger new-home sales alongside weaker resale absorption is a pattern to watch. (HST rebate eligibility rules have changed several times; verify current terms before relying on them.)
- Rental supply is growing. CMHC expects Ottawa’s rental market to soften as a large construction pipeline completes. Most of that is purpose-built rental, not resale condos, but it gives renters and would-be condo buyers more options, which affects condo demand indirectly.
- Borrowing costs still matter most. OREB notes that affordability and borrowing costs continue to cap demand. Check the Bank of Canada’s current policy rate and its next announcement date before timing a purchase or sale around rates.
For the longer outlook, see the Ottawa housing market forecast for 2027.
What This Means for Buyers
This is the most negotiating room Ottawa buyers have had at this time of year in a decade. With 4,813 homes on the market and only one in three new listings selling, you can be more deliberate.
- Expect to pay below asking, on average. Homes sold for 97.5% of list price in September. On a $700,000 listing, that average gap works out to about $17,500. Some homes will still sell at or over asking, especially well-priced detached homes in the stronger suburban pockets, but bidding wars are the exception right now.
- Use the time. Median days on market rose to 27. You often have room to see a home twice, book a proper inspection and get your financing confirmed, rather than going in firm on a first visit.
- Know which segment you’re buying in. Buyers looking at family homes in Kanata, Stittsville or Barrhaven are shopping in the busiest part of the market, where well-priced homes still move. Condo buyers, particularly downtown, have the most leverage of anyone in Ottawa: 7.3 months of inventory is firmly buyer’s-market territory.
- Condition matters more when you have choice. More inventory means more homes with deferred maintenance sitting longer. A slower market is exactly when you can afford to walk away from a house with a tired roof, an aging electrical panel or a damp basement, or negotiate for it properly.
- Compare resale with new construction honestly. If you qualify for the new-home HST relief, the numbers on a new build may look better than they did a year ago. Weigh that against closing timelines, builder contract terms and the certainty of a resale home you can inspect today. Our new construction homes in Ottawa guide walks through the process.
- Watch October. If listings fall back as they usually do, the window for the strongest negotiating position may narrow by late fall.
What This Means for Sellers
September was the toughest month for sellers this year, but it doesn’t mean your home won’t sell. It means your pricing and preparation have to be right from day one.
- Price to today’s market, not the spring. The benchmark fell 2.2% in a month. A price set from May or June comparables can easily miss the current market. Overpriced homes in a one-in-three market don’t get a second look; they sit, and then they get discounted. Start with a current home valuation based on recent comparable sales.
- Your competition just went up by 38%. Buyers are comparing your home against more alternatives than at any September in a decade. Clean, well-presented, properly marketed listings stand out. Tired ones blend in. Staging your home and how your listing is marketed carry more weight in this market than in a hot one.
- Get ahead of inspection issues. With buyers taking time to inspect, problems that would have been overlooked in 2021 now become price reductions or collapsed deals. Fixing or disclosing them up front protects your sale.
- Condo sellers need the sharpest pricing. With 7.3 months of inventory and a benchmark down 6.1% year over year, condos priced above the market will sit. Price to compete with the units already listed in your building and area.
- Timing is a real decision now. If listings fall through October and November as they usually do, sellers who list into a thinner late-fall market may face less competition. Waiting for spring brings more buyers but also more listings. There’s no universal right answer; it depends on your home, your next move and your carrying costs. Factor in the full cost of selling a home in Ottawa when you run the numbers.
- Buying and selling at the same time? A softer market works in your favour on the purchase and against you on the sale. Moving up usually still nets out well, but sequencing (sell first, buy first, or a conditional offer) deserves a plan before you list.
How to Read These Numbers
All figures on this page come from the Ottawa Real Estate Board’s September 2026 market release, published October 5, 2026, and its accompanying September 2026 statistics package (PDF). OREB’s figures cover residential sales through the MLS® System across the board’s region. For longer-term trend charts, CREA publishes Ottawa board statistics, and CREA explains how the MLS® Home Price Index is calculated.
Forecast figures referenced above come from TD Economics, RBC Economics, CMHC’s Housing Market Outlook and the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association, as cited by OREB.
Citywide numbers are a starting point. Your street, your property type and your price range can behave quite differently. For more monthly reports, see the full Ottawa real estate market update archive, or browse recently sold homes in Ottawa.
Talk to Jason About What September Means for Your Move
Jason Polonski is an Ottawa REALTOR® with Right at Home Realty and more than 15 years of experience helping buyers and sellers across Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Nepean, Manotick and the rest of the city. Before real estate, he worked in construction and the electrical trades, so when he reads a market like this one, he’s also reading the homes in it: which ones will hold value through a soft patch, and which will lose ground at inspection. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University with a double major in Marketing and Finance, which shapes how he prices listings and structures offers when the data is shifting month to month. If you’re deciding whether to list this fall, wait for spring, or buy while buyers have the upper hand, call or text Jason at (613) 601-9333 or request a free home evaluation.
Previous update: August 2026 Ottawa market update.
September 2026 Ottawa Market Update: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The average residential sale price in Ottawa was $685,640 in September 2026, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board. That was down 1.0% from September 2025 and nearly unchanged from August. The median sale price was $625,000, down 0.8% year over year.
Yes, on the benchmark measure. Ottawa’s MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark fell 2.2% from August to $623,500 in September 2026, the largest August-to-September decline since OREB’s series began in 2005. Year over year, the benchmark was down only 0.3%, and average and median prices were roughly flat, so the drop reflects a one-month softening rather than a confirmed downward trend.
Ottawa leaned toward a buyer’s market in September 2026. The sales-to-new-listings ratio fell to 34.5%, the lowest September level in ten years, and months of inventory rose to 4.8, the highest September level in a decade. Condo apartments were firmly in buyer’s-market territory at 7.3 months of inventory, while single-family homes (4.4 months) and townhomes (4.0 months) were closer to balanced.
A total of 1,010 homes sold through the MLS® System in Ottawa in September 2026, down 6.6% from September 2025 and up 0.8% from August. That included 535 single-family homes, 329 townhouses and 121 apartments. Year to date, 10,288 homes have sold in Ottawa, down 6.9% from 2025.
Ottawa homes sold in a median of 27 days in September 2026, up from 22 days in September 2025. Homes sold for an average of 97.5% of their list price, compared with 98.1% a year earlier. Condo apartments generally take longer to sell than detached homes and townhomes in the current Ottawa market.
The average price in Ottawa held steady because detached homes made up a larger share of September 2026 sales while condo sales fell sharply, which props up the average. The MLS® HPI benchmark tracks a typical home with consistent features, so it isn’t affected by that mix. Its 2.2% monthly drop indicates that like-for-like home values in Ottawa softened more than the average price suggests.
