Ontario MLS® home sales continue to underperform historical norms as inventory remains elevated in March
Residential sales activity reported through the MLS® Systems of real estate boards in Ontario numbered 12,424 units in March 2026. This was down only 0.2% from March 2025.
Home sales were 24.1% below the five-year average and 36.7% below the 10-year average for the month of March.
On a year-to-date basis, home sales totalled 29,529 units over the first three months of the year. This was down by 7.3% from the same period in 2025.
Nationally, home sales activity was down modestly by 2.3% from year-ago levels in March 2026.
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) tracks price trends far more accurately than is possible using average or median price measures. The overall MLS® HPI composite benchmark price was $749,200 in March 2026, a decline of 6.5% compared to March 2025.
The benchmark price for single-family homes was $831,200, down by 6.2% on a year-over-year basis in March. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $596,800, a decrease of 7.5% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $496,900, a moderate decrease of 8.9% from year-ago levels.
The average price of resale residential homes sold across the province in March 2026 was $811,868, a decrease of 4.8% from March 2025.
The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $799,750, a moderate decrease of 5.3% from the first three months of 2025.
The national average price, by comparison, marked a slight reduction of 0.8% on a year-over-year basis to $673,084 in March 2026.
The number of new listings on MLS® Systems of real estate boards in Ontario saw a decline of 8.9% from March 2025. There were 34,199 new residential listings in March 2026.
New listings were 1.2% below the five-year average and 3.3% below the 10-year average for the month of March.
Active residential listings numbered 56,657 units on the market at the end of March, down modestly by 2.4% from the end of March 2025.
Active listings were 35.5% above the five-year average and 49.2% above the 10-year average for the month of March.
Months of inventory numbered 4.6 at the end of March 2026, down from the 4.7 months recorded at the end of March 2025 and above the long-run average of 2.3 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.
The dollar value of all home sales in the province in March 2026 was $10.1 billion, falling by 5% from the same month in 2025.
| Ontario Monthly Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | Residential Sales | Year-over-year % change | Residential Average Price | Year-over-year % change |
| Central1 | 5,395 | 1.9 | $1,026,449 | -6.6 |
| Eastern2 | 1,631 | -4.3 | $631,923 | -1.8 |
| Northeastern3 | 1,178 | -5.2 | $696,234 | -6.9 |
| Northern4 | 490 | -12.3 | $402,042 | 2.4 |
| Southern5 | 2,069 | -1.6 | $740,468 | -5.3 |
| Western6 | 1,661 | 7.8 | $583,442 | -1.0 |
| Ontario | 12,424 | -0.2 | $811,868 | -4.8 |
| Ontario Year-To-Date Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YTD 2026 | Residential Sales | Year-over-year % change | Residential Average Price | Year-over-year % change |
| Central1 | 12,802 | -7.2 | $1,013,802 | -6.5 |
| Eastern2 | 3,825 | -6.7 | $616,993 | -1.5 |
| Northeastern3 | 2,879 | -9.5 | $688,267 | -7.0 |
| Northern4 | 1,255 | -11.9 | $392,766 | 2.0 |
| Southern5 | 4,944 | -7.1 | $731,340 | -4.6 |
| Western6 | 3,824 | -5.5 | $571,899 | -3.7 |
| Ontario | 29,529 | -7.3 | $799,750 | -5.3 |
1 Oakville-Milton, Greater Toronto
2 Cornwall, Kingston and Area, Ottawa, Renfrew County, Rideau-St. Lawrence
3 Bancroft & District, Barrie & District, Kawartha Lakes, Lakelands, Northumberland Hills, Peterborough and the Kawarthas, Quinte & District
4 North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Cochrane & Timiskaming Districts
5 Brantford Region, Guelph & District, Hamilton-Burlington, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara Region, Simcoe, and Cambridge
6 Chatham-Kent, Grey Bruce Owen Sound, Huron Perth, London & St. Thomas, Sarnia-Lambton, Windsor-Essex, Woodstock-Ingersoll-Tillsonburg
BOARD & ASSOCIATION INFORMATION
The Ontario Real Estate Association represents nearly 100,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 29 real estate boards throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR® members through a wide variety of support services, educational programs, advocacy, standard forms, and other offerings.
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JeanAdrienD@orea.com
Cathy Polan
