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Ottawa Housing Market Report
- The average home sale price in Ottawa's housing market fell 1.7% year-over-year and 6.9% month-over-month to $683,308 in July 2026.
- The composite benchmark price of a home in Ottawa held near $634,000, slipping 0.5% from July 2025 while edging up 0.3% from June.
- Home sales totalled 1,325 in July 2026, down 12.7% from June but 0.5% above July 2025, while active listings remained 11.2% higher year-over-year at 4,678 and months of supply widened to 3.5.
- Single-family home average price decreased by 3.3% year-over-year to $825k.
- Townhouse average price decreased by 3.2% year-over-year to $543k.
- Apartment average price decreased by 0.2% year-over-year to $430k.
Ottawa Housing Market Overview
Ottawa Housing Market: Price Movements for July 2026
| Home Price | 1-Month Change | 1-Year Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Benchmark Home Price | $634,000 | +0.3% | -0.5% |
Average Home Price | $683,308 | -6.9% | -1.7% |
Median Home Price | $635,000 | -3.1% | 0.0% |
Note: The MLS HPI benchmark price represents the value of a ‘typical’ home in the area.
Ottawa's market changed gears in July 2026, as a steep pullback in both new listings and transactions reshaped the headline numbers. Sales fell 12.7% from June to 1,325 transactions, although that total still finished marginally ahead of July 2025. The average price dropped 6.9% on the month, yet the benchmark price, which adjusts for the mix of homes sold, moved in the opposite direction and rose 0.3%. Active listings pulled back to 4,678, and with sales falling faster than inventory, months of supply widened to 3.5 months. Ottawa stayed in balanced territory, though buyers were clearly taking longer to commit.
Home Prices
In July 2026, the average home price in Ottawa's housing market fell 6.9% from the previous month to $683,308. That works out to an annual decline of 1.7%.
By contrast, the composite benchmark price of $634,000 in July 2026 was 0.5% below last year but 0.3% above June. 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 gap between the two measures in July points to a change in the mix of homes sold rather than a broad repricing. Over a longer horizon, the benchmark home price in Ottawa has risen by only about 5.2% over the past five years.
The median price represents the midpoint of all home sales, meaning half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. In July 2026, the median price was $635,000, down 3.1% month-over-month and unchanged from July 2025, when it also stood at $635,000.
Sales and Inventory
The 1,325 sales recorded in July 2026 were 0.5% higher than in July 2025 but 12.7% below June's total. New listings dropped by 18.6% from June, bringing the total to 2,530 new listings in July. That was also 0.8% fewer than in July 2025.
The sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) climbed from 48.8% in June to 52.4% in July 2026, as listings contracted faster than sales. For reference, an SNLR of less than 40% indicates that the market favours buyers. An SNLR of 40% to 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 3.5 months in July 2026, up from June'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 4,678 active listings, a 11.2% increase compared to last July but 6.1% lower than last month.
Additional Ratios
The sales-to-list price ratio in July 2026 was 97.8%, indicating that homes sold 2.2% below the listing price on average.
The median days on the market, representing the time listed properties remained available, was 28 days, up from 22 days in June 2026.
Property Types' Analysis
Looking at the different property types in Ottawa:
Single-family homes had an average price of $824,769, decreasing by 6.3% monthly and decreasing 3.3% annually. Sales of single-family homes reached 714, down 18.8% from June but up 5.9% year-over-year.
The average price of townhouses sold was $543,061, down 2.1% from last month and down 3.2% annually. Townhouse sales reached 417, down 2.8% monthly and down 4.4% annually.
The average price for apartments in July 2026 was $430,086, down 0.5% from June and down 0.2% from July 2025. Apartment sales reached 169, down 5.1% month-over-month and down 6.6% from July 2025.
Reasoning
Ottawa's July results describe a market that thinned out on both sides at once. Sellers stepped back, with new listings easing from June, and buyers followed suit, which produced the steep month-over-month drop in transactions. What stands out is that sales still finished essentially level with July 2025, and that the SNLR strengthened to 52.4% as a smaller pool of fresh listings was absorbed more quickly.
Borrowing conditions stayed far steadier than during the rate-hike stretch of 2022 to 2024, with the Bank of Canada maintaining a cautious stance on interest rates. That predictability has kept a base of buyers engaged, but mortgage rates remain high enough that affordability is still the binding constraint. Ottawa's public-sector employment base continued to put a floor under demand, though the market was not insulated from wider economic uncertainty and cautious household budgets.
Inventory, meanwhile, is showing signs of contraction. Active listings eased to 4,678, down on the month but still well above the year-ago level, so buyers retained noticeably more choice than in July 2025. Taken together, a 52.4% SNLR, 3.5 months of supply, and a 97.8% sales-to-list price ratio describe a balanced market that is tightening on the supply side while buyers keep the upper hand on price, with properties trading below asking and spending longer on the market than they did in June.
Comparison
Ottawa's housing market remains much more affordable than Vancouver's housing market and Toronto's housing market. Ottawa's average home price was $683,308 in July 2026, compared with Vancouver's average price of $1,215,593 and a Greater Toronto Area average of $1,003,956 in July.
Ottawa's housing market is more expensive than the Calgary housing market, where the city-wide average price was $629,855 in July 2026. Compared with Montreal's housing market, Ottawa's July average of $683,308 now sits just below Montreal's July average of $693,686, leaving the two markets closely matched. Even so, 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.
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Home Prices in Ottawa
Ottawa Housing Market Statistics for All Property Types in July 2026
Average Sold Price and MLS HPI Benchmark Price
Total Transactions
Property Type Distribution
Market Overview for Single Family Homes in July 2026
Average Sold Price
Transactions
Market Overview for Townhouses in July 2026
Average Sold Price
Transactions
Market Overview for Apartments in July 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.
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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.
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