Market update October 2026: Calm before the storm?

If August felt familiar, that's because it was. According to CREA Senior Economist Shaun Cathcart, housing market activity and price trends remained largely unchanged for a fourth consecutive month, echoing trends PayProp Insights has been highlighting throughout the year.

What has changed is the economic outlook. With uncertainty growing, the housing market could remain muted for some time.

• Rentals.ca reports the national average asking rent was $2,035, effectively flat from July to August.

• In Ontario, average asking rents went from $2,247 in July to $2,256 in August.

• In the sales market, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reports an average national home price of $668,351 in August – down 1% from July and up 0.6% year over year.

• Ontario reliably continues to have some of the highest average home prices in the country (second only to British Columbia) at $788,835, but they are down 1.1% from last month’s average.

• According to CREA, home sales volumes edged down 0.7% from July to August.

• The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports the six-month trend in housing starts was down 1.3% in August compared to July at 244,149 units.