Journal
Notes on the Ottawa market.
Market letters, buying & selling guides, neighbourhood notes, investor and commercial analysis.
MARKET UPDATES
The national market just turned a corner. Ottawa didn't need one.
Jul 20, 2026 · 4 min read
CREA's June release landed the same morning as the Bank's hold and got buried. National sales are climbing and prices have stopped falling. Ottawa never fell. Here's what the gap between those two facts means for our fall market.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
After the hold: the seven-week window that sets up Ottawa's fall market
Jul 19, 2026 · 4 min read
The Bank held at 2.25% on Wednesday, its sixth straight pass. Inside the release: the first mildly encouraging thing the Bank has said about housing in a while, and a calendar quirk that gives Ottawa buyers and sellers a seven-week head start on the fall market.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Ottawa's June Market: One Average Price, Three Different Stories
Jul 13, 2026 · 4 min read
The average sale price ticked up in June. The market underneath it did not. A look at Ottawa's three-speed market before Wednesday's Bank of Canada decision.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
What Wednesday's rate decision actually does to your Ottawa mortgage
Jul 12, 2026 · 4 min read
The Bank holds again Wednesday, and most buyers are watching the wrong number. Your fixed rate is set in the bond market, not the Bank's boardroom. Here's what the July 15 decision actually changes for Ottawa, and what it doesn't.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Where Ottawa's Market Sits Before the July 15 Rate Decision
Jul 6, 2026 · 5 min read
Sales are down year over year, inventory is up, and single-family homes are holding while condos soften. With the Bank of Canada set to decide on July 15, here's an honest read on where Ottawa's market actually sits.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Ottawa's sales-to-new-listings ratio — the summer signal to watch
Jul 5, 2026 · 5 min read
Everyone quotes Ottawa's average sale price. The sales-to-new-listings ratio does more forecasting work — and Ottawa's ~48% reading hides two very different sub-markets.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
What's selling fast in Ottawa this July, what's sitting stale
Jul 5, 2026 · 5 min read
Watch the OREB headline and you get the tidy version. Sit in the actual pipeline this July and you see two Ottawa markets — one clearing in two weeks, one sitting 60 days.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Ottawa's mid-2026 market: what to watch into summer
Jun 29, 2026 · 5 min read
We're halfway through 2026 and the year-to-date numbers tell a cleaner story than any single month. Fewer sales, more inventory, prices holding. Here's what that means heading into summer.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Ottawa housing 2026: a mid-year report card
Jun 28, 2026 · 4 min read
We're at the halfway mark of 2026. Prices are roughly flat, sales are softer, and inventory is comfortable. Here's the honest scorecard and what I'm watching into the back half of the year.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Ottawa real estate market update — Q2 2026
Jun 18, 2026 · 3 min read
If you've been refreshing OREB releases the way I do, the headline of Q2 2026 is simple: balanced, not boring. May sales hit 1,616 units across the OREB territory, down 10.6% from a year earlier, while the average sale price came in at $721…
Read →MARKET UPDATES
How Bank of Canada rate moves are shaping Ottawa real estate
Jun 12, 2026 · 3 min read
The Bank of Canada held the overnight rate at 2.25% on June 10, 2026. That's the fifth consecutive hold — January, March, April, and now June. The Bank Rate sits at 2.5%, deposit rate at 2.20%.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
5-year price trends across Ottawa neighbourhoods
May 22, 2026 · 2 min read
Looking back from June 2026, Ottawa real estate has had three distinct chapters since 2021: the COVID-era surge through early 2022, the 2022–2024 rate shock and correction, and the 2025–2026 plateau.
Read →MARKET UPDATES
Ottawa's spring 2026 market: what buyers and sellers need to know
May 4, 2026 · 2 min read
Every spring, the question I get most is some version of "is this the year it goes nuts again?" The honest answer for 2026 is no, and that's actually good news for almost everyone involved.
Read →