Ottawa Housing Market Report
- The average home sale price in Ottawa's housing market increased by 0.7% year-over-year and increased by 2.8% month-over-month to $712,184 in April 2026.
- The composite benchmark price of a home in Ottawa was $629,800, decreasing 0.9% from April 2025 and up by 2.0% from last month.
- Single-family home average price decreased by 0.6% year-over-year to $863k.
- Townhouse average price decreased by 3.8% year-over-year to $556k.
- Apartment average price decreased by 2.4% year-over-year to $426k.
Ottawa Housing Market Overview
Ottawa Housing Market: Price Movements for April 2026
Benchmark Home Price | $629,800 | +2.0% 1-Month Change | -0.9% 1-Year Change |
Average Home Price | $712,184 | +2.8% 1-Month Change | +0.7% 1-Year Change |
Median Home Price | $650,000 | +1.2% 1-Month Change | 0.0% 1-Year Change |
Note: The MLS HPI benchmark price represents the value of a ‘typical’ home in the area.
Ottawa's housing market continued to gain spring momentum in April 2026. Sales increased both month-over-month and year-over-year. Prices also moved higher on a monthly basis, with the average home price reaching $712,184 and the benchmark price rising to $629,800. However, supply expanded quickly as new listings rose 33% from the previous month and active listings climbed to 4,535. As a result, the sales-to-new-listings ratio eased to 41%, despite stronger sales activity.
Home Prices
In April 2026, the average home price in Ottawa's housing market increased by 2.8% from the previous month to $712,184. The price reflects an annual increase of 0.7%. It is also noteworthy that the average home price in Ottawa has increased by only about 6.0% over the past five years.
Meanwhile, the composite benchmark price of $629,800 in April 2026 was 0.9% lower than last year and 2.0% higher than in March. The benchmark price represents the estimated value of a typical home in Ottawa and is useful for tracking market trends because it is less affected by unusually high or low-priced sales than the average price.
The median price often offers a less skewed view of the market by reducing the influence of outliers. In April 2026, the median price was $650,000, unchanged year-over-year and up 1.2% month-over-month.
Sales and Inventory
The 1,336 sales in April 2026 were 2.3% higher than in April 2025 and 24% higher than last month. On the other hand, there was a 33% increase in new listings from last month, bringing the total to 3,258 new listings in April. New listings were 19.3% higher than in April 2025.
The sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) decreased from 44% in March to 41% in April 2026. For reference, an SNLR of less than 40% indicates that the market favours buyers. An SNLR of 40%—60% typically indicates that the market is balanced and doesn't tip in favour of sellers or buyers. When the SNLR exceeds 60%, the market is considered to favour sellers.
Another indicator of market conditions is months of inventory, which was 3.4 months in April 2026, slightly higher than March's 3.3 months. At this level, the market is considered balanced. Generally, a balanced market has three to five months of inventory, while less than three months signals a seller's market and more than five months indicates a buyer's market.
The market had 4,535 active listings, a 17.2% increase compared to last April and 26.7% higher than last month.
Additional Ratios
The sales-to-list price ratio in April 2026 was 98.5%, indicating that homes sold 1.5% below the listing price on average.
The median days on the market, representing the time listed properties remained available, was 21 days, unchanged from March 2026.
Property Types' Analysis
Looking at the different property types in Ottawa,
Single-family homes had an average price of $862,916, increasing by 2.1% monthly and decreasing 0.6% annually. Sales of single-family homes reached 712, up 26.7% from March and 6.4% year-over-year.
The average price of townhouses sold was $556,172, down 1.1% from last month and 3.8% annually. Townhouse sales reached 410, up 19.2% monthly and 0.2% annually.
The average price for apartments in April 2026 was $425,935, up 6.0% from March and down 2.4% from April 2025. Apartment sales reached 190, up 28.4% month-over-month and unchanged from April 2025.
Reasoning
Ottawa's market showed stronger spring activity in April, supported by improving buyer participation and stable borrowing costs. The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% on April 29, 2026 and also noted that U.S. trade policy and geopolitical uncertainty remain key risks to the economic outlook. Lower borrowing costs compared with the highs of 2023 and 2024 have helped some buyers return to the market, although Ottawa mortgage rates remain well above pandemic-era lows.
Ottawa's government-driven labour market continues to provide a degree of housing demand stability, especially compared with more volatile markets such as Toronto and Vancouver. At the same time, the sharp rise in new listings and active inventory suggests buyers still have meaningful choice. The SNLR of 41% indicates that the market remains balanced and close to buyer-leaning territory, even as sales improved. This means sellers may benefit from stronger spring demand, but pricing remains important, especially as homes are still selling below asking on average.
Comparison
Ottawa's housing market remains much more affordable than Vancouver's housing market and Toronto's housing market. Ottawa's benchmark home price was $629,800 in April 2026, compared with Vancouver's benchmark price of $1,098,000 and Toronto's benchmark price of $944,100. Ottawa's housing market is also more expensive than the Calgary housing market, where the city-wide benchmark price was $568,800 in April 2026. Compared with Montreal's housing market, Ottawa's average home price of $712,184 was higher than Montreal's April 2026 average home price of $667,465. However, Ottawa remains far more affordable than Canada's most expensive major markets. As most homes in Ottawa are well below the $1.5 million mark, they are eligible for a minimum down payment of 5% to 10% with CMHC insurance, allowing more buyers to compete for the inventory.
Home Prices in Ottawa
Ottawa Housing Market Statistics for All Property Types in April 2026
Average Sold Price and MLS HPI Benchmark Price
Total Transactions
Property Type Distribution
Market Overview for Single Family Homes in April 2026
Average Sold Price
Transactions
Market Overview for Townhouses in April 2026
Average Sold Price
Transactions
Market Overview for Apartments in April 2026
Average Sold Price
Transactions
Glossary and Definitions
MLS® Home Price Index (HPI): Developed by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the MLS® HPI is the most advanced tool for tracking price trends in the Canadian housing market. Rather than using simple average prices, which can be skewed by the mix of homes sold in a given month, the HPI tracks the value of a "Benchmark Home"—a property with typical attributes for its specific neighborhood. This allows for an accurate "apples-to-apples" comparison of home values across different regions and time periods, independent of a property's specific features or seasonal volatility. To ensure the index remains relevant, CREA performs an annual review every May to account for evolving market dynamics.
MLS® HPI Benchmark Price: This is the dollar value assigned to a "typical" home in a specific neighborhood. While the HPI itself is an index number used to track trends, the Benchmark Price translates that data into a real-world dollar figure, representing what a standard home with average features (like square footage, rooms, and lot size) would likely sell for in today's market.
Property types
Detached home: A detached home is your standard single-family home. It is a residential building that stands alone and is separately titled or legally a single unit.
Semi-detached home: A semi-detached home is similar to a detached home, except it shares a wall with another home. This pair of homes must make up an independent building and each should be separately titled or legally two separate units. There can only be two homes in a semi-detached building.
Townhouses: A townhouse is the middle between a detached/semi-detached home and a condo apartment. Like detached and semi-detached homes, they are often single-family units that have their own land and may be attached to other units. However, like condo apartments, they typically have to pay co-ownership fees for maintenance and may share some common features with their neighbors.
Condo apartment: This category includes all apartments and condominiums. These are complexes of residential units with common areas such as hallways, parking lots, stairwells, etc. They can be low-rise, mid-rise, or high-rise buildings. Unlike townhouses, there are no parts of the lot (the land of the building) where access is reserved for only one owner or occupant. There can be privately owned units and spaces inside the building.
Property Classes
Freeholds: A freehold is any property where the owner owns both the house and the land it is built on. Common freehold property types include: detached, semi-detached, some townhouses, and farmland.
Condominiums: A condominium or condo is any property where the owner owns the home (or unit) but shares ownership of the land and other improvements with a condominium corporation. Common condominium property types include condo apartments and some townhouses.
Leasehold: Leasehold describes the situation where different entities own the land and the structure built on the land. Owners of the buildings have leased the land and pay rent to their landlord while owning the building on the land.
Housing Markets Across Canada
Data sourced from the Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Any analysis or commentary is the opinion of the analysts at WOWA.ca and should not be construed as investment advice. Please consult a licensed real estate professional before making a real estate investment decision. The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA.
Disclaimer:
- Any analysis or commentary reflects the opinions of WOWA.ca analysts and should not be considered financial advice. Please consult a licensed professional before making any decisions.
- The calculators and content on this page are for general information only. WOWA does not guarantee the accuracy and is not responsible for any consequences of using the calculator.
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- Interest rates are sourced from financial institutions' websites or provided to us directly. Real estate data is sourced from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and regional boards' websites and documents.
- The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service®, and associated logos are owned by CREA and identify services provided by its members.