Ottawa’s October 2026 market: more sales, fewer listings, softer prices

Let me translate.

Every month, the Ottawa Real Estate Board publishes a wall of numbers. Most people read the headline, see “prices down” or “sales up,” and form an opinion about the whole city. The truth is quieter and more useful than either headline. October was a month where a few more buyers showed up, fewer new sellers joined them, and prices drifted a little lower. Nothing dramatic. But the details matter if you’re about to buy or sell.

“Sellers who priced for today’s market moved. The ones pricing for last year sat.”

— Gaurav Kapoor, REALTOR®

October at a glance

Measure	October 2026	What changed
Homes sold	1,048	Up 3.8% from September; down 10.7% from October 2025
New listings	2,382	Down 18.6% from September; down 1.2% year over year
Active listings	4,582	Down 4.8% from September; up 6.4% year over year
Months of inventory	4.4	From 4.8 in September; 3.7 a year ago
MLS® HPI composite benchmark	$616,900	Down 1.1% from September; down 1.3% year over year
Average sale price	$678,512	Down 1.0% from September; down 4.5% year over year
Median days on market	25.5	From 27 in September; 25 a year ago
Sale price vs list price	97.5%	Same as September; 97.9% a year ago

What the numbers are really saying

Supply is still the story

There were 4,582 active listings at the end of October, the second-highest October inventory since 2016. New listings came in 26.1% above the previous 10-year October average. So even with fewer sellers listing than in September, there’s a lot on the shelf.

Months of inventory tells you how long it would take to sell everything at the current pace. At 4.4, that’s down from 4.8 in September but up from 3.7 a year ago. Translation: more choice and more time for buyers than last fall.

Prices: a gentle drift, not a slide

The benchmark price, which tracks a “typical” home and is less jumpy than the average, slipped 1.3% year over year. Seasonally adjusted, OREB says it fell about 0.5% in October, after a decline of 1.5% in September. The average sale price fell further, 4.5%, but averages swing with the mix of homes that happen to sell in a given month.

It depends on the type of home

Home type	Benchmark price	Year over year	Months of inventory
Single-family	$699,200	Down 0.8%	4.0
Townhouse	$539,800	Down 4.3%	3.6
Apartment (condo)	$377,500	Down 5.3%	7.4

Single-family homes have held up best. Condo apartments are the softest segment, with 7.4 months of inventory, up from 5.8 a year ago. If you’re shopping or selling a condo, that number deserves your attention.

OREB President Tami Eades summed it up: “October brought some welcome relief for sellers, with a modest increase in sales and fewer new listings helping to ease some of the pressure we’ve seen in recent months. However, buyers continue to have considerable choice, and market conditions remain softer than a year ago.”

Your move

• If you’re buying: you have time and choice, especially in condos. Use it to do your homework: inspection, condo status certificate, and a pre-approval that’s current.
• If you’re selling: price against what’s selling in your segment and neighbourhood, not against last year’s headlines. Homes sold at 97.5% of list price on average in October.
• Either way: look at your type of home and your part of the city. The citywide number is a starting point, not your number.

Quick questions

What’s the difference between the benchmark price and the average price?

The average is simply total dollars divided by homes sold, so it moves with whatever happened to sell that month. The MLS® Home Price Index benchmark tracks the price of a typical home with consistent features, which makes it a steadier measure of real price change.

How many homes have sold in Ottawa so far in 2026?

11,335 in the first 10 months of the year, down 7.3% from the same period in 2025, according to OREB. New listings over the same stretch were 25,352, up 3.4%.

How fast are Ottawa homes selling?

The median time on market in October was 25.5 days, a little quicker than September’s 27 days and roughly in line with last October’s 25.

Will prices keep falling?

Nobody can promise where prices go next, and I won’t pretend to. What the data shows is where things stand today. If you’re deciding on timing, the better question is what works for your budget, your plans and your home, and that’s a conversation worth having one on one.