Ottawa Housing Market: Home Prices and Sales | August 2026

The Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) reports resale activity for the City of Ottawa and the surrounding area on the Ontario side of the river; the Quebec side has its own report, the Gatineau housing market, and the two are compared in Ottawa vs Gatineau. OREB publishes all three price measures. This page shows its August 2026 release, published in September 2026, with benchmark levels by home type from the board’s previous month. The Canadian housing market overview explains how the measures differ.

Ottawa home prices, August 2026

OREB’s composite benchmark was $637,700 (1.0% year over year), the average sale $688,253 (0.3%) and the median $622,357 (-1.2%). Homes sold for 97.9% of their asking price on average, and the median home took 29 days to sell, against 28 a year earlier.

Home types

OREB. Benchmark levels and their changes are from the board’s previous release; sales and months of inventory are for August 2026.

OREB’s August 2026 release updates only the year-over-year changes: 2.2% for the single-family benchmark and -4.0% for townhouses, with townhouse listings 27.1% above a year earlier. Apartments were the slackest segment: 6.3 months of inventory, just under CREA’s 6.4-month buyer’s-market line, a 43.0% sales-to-new-listings ratio and a median of 42 days on market.

Sales, listings and market balance

OREB counted 1,002 sales (-18.6% on a year earlier), 2,119 new listings and 4,496 active listings, 11.3% more than a year earlier. The board’s sales-to-new-listings ratio fell to 47.3% from 52.4% the month before, and months of inventory rose from 3.5 to 4.5, the highest for the month since 2016. Recomputed from the counts, the ratio is 47.3% and inventory 4.5 months, between CREA’s 3.6-month seller’s and 6.4-month buyer’s thresholds (what these measure).

OREB’s reading is that the slowdown did not come from a wave of new supply: new and active listings both fell from the month before, but sales fell faster, and the board’s review of listing records found that more homes were being taken off the market without selling (terminated, cancelled or expired listings) relative to completed sales. It describes prices as steady while conditions shift towards buyers.

By part of the city

Blank cells: OREB’s release does not give that figure for the submarket.

OREB says the three suburban submarkets made up more than 70% of sales. Central Ottawa had 3.4 more months of inventory than Suburb West, and Rural West was the one submarket where sales rose on the year, though on a small number of transactions. Neighbourhood descriptions are on where to live in Ottawa.

Buying costs in Ottawa

Ottawa has no municipal land transfer tax, so a buyer pays only Ontario’s. At the composite benchmark it is $9,229, the top 2% slice applying to the $237,700 above $400,000. Eligible first-time buyers get up to $4,000 refunded, leaving $5,229 (Ontario calculator). Ottawa’s tax rates are covered on Ottawa property tax.

Because the benchmark is above $500,000, the minimum down payment mixes 5% and 10%: $38,770, or 6.1% of the price. Insuring the mortgage at that down payment costs $23,957, added to the loan. An apartment at its $385,500 benchmark needs $19,275 down.

Income needed against Ottawa incomes

The Ottawa benchmark home needs near $144,200 a year of income at minimum down, or $126,000 with 20% down (calculation). For the Ontario part of the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA, the 2021 Census median household income was $102,000 (income year 2020), so the benchmark home asks for 41% more than the median household had. An apartment at its benchmark needs $89,800. Income percentiles in Ottawa show where those incomes fall.

Related pages

• Buying a home in Ottawa
• Ottawa rental market
• Ontario housing market
• Gatineau housing market