One of the most common questions we get from homeowners preparing to sell is whether they should renovate before putting their home on the market. The answer is usually: it depends… and don’t start spending money just yet.
There are certainly improvements that can help your home sell faster or for more money. But there are also renovations that cost far more than you’ll ever get back when you sell.
Start With the Easy Stuff
Before considering a major renovation, take care of the smaller things buyers will notice. Fresh paint, updated light fixtures, repairing damaged trim, replacing worn carpet and taking care of obvious maintenance items can make a surprisingly big difference.
These aren’t exciting renovations, but they can make a home feel cleaner, newer and better maintained without a huge investment. You will almost always recoup the investment on these items. The bonus will also be that you will sell quicker.
Be Careful With Kitchens and Bathrooms
Kitchens and bathrooms are important to buyers, but that doesn’t automatically mean you should renovate them before selling.
Spending $50,000 on a new kitchen doesn’t necessarily increase the value of your home by $50,000. Sometimes an older but well-maintained kitchen is perfectly acceptable, particularly if the home is priced accordingly.
There are also plenty of buyers who would rather renovate themselves and choose their own finishes.
Think About Your Competition
This is where the Ottawa market matters. If you’re selling in a neighbourhood where most competing homes have renovated kitchens, updated bathrooms and finished basements, an original home may need to be priced differently.
On the other hand, if homes in your area are generally similar in age and condition, spending heavily to make yours the most renovated house on the street may not make financial sense.
Presentation Can Be More Important Than Renovation
A home doesn’t need to be brand new to show well. Professional staging, great photography, fresh paint, good lighting and removing excess furniture can completely change how buyers perceive a property.
Sometimes a few thousand dollars spent preparing and presenting a home properly can have a greater impact than a much larger renovation. Keep in mind that our team will help you along the way to make sure you are making the right decisions. We have a great staging team!
Talk to a Realtor Before You Renovate
This is probably our biggest piece of advice. If you’re planning to sell within the next year or two, have a Realtor look at the property beforeyou start spending money. We can compare your home with recent sales, look at your competition, and identify which improvements are likely to make a difference.
You may discover that the $30,000 renovation you were considering isn’t necessary at all.
When you’re preparing to sell, the goal isn’t to make your home perfect. The goal is to spend money where buyers are most likely to notice it — and avoid spending it where they won’t.
You listed your home expecting showings and offers. Instead, a few weeks have passed, activity has slowed down and you’re starting to wonder, why isn’t my house selling?
There usually isn’t just one reason, but after years of selling homes in Ottawa, we’ve found that most situations come back to a few key factors.
The Price
Let’s start with the obvious one. If buyers are viewing comparable homes but consistently choosing something else, your asking price may be part of the problem.
Today’s buyers have access to an incredible amount of information. They’re looking at listings every day, receiving notifications when new properties hit the market and comparing your home against everything else available. They generally know when something feels expensive. In our market now buyers wont buy unless they feel they are getting good value.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you need a huge price reduction. But if the market is consistently telling you that your home isn’t competitive, it’s worth listening.
The Presentation
Buyers often decide whether they’re interested in a home before they ever walk through the front door. Your photos, staging and online presentation matter.
Dark photography, cluttered rooms or an exterior that doesn’t photograph well can cause buyers to skip over a perfectly good house. You only get one opportunity to make that first impression.
The Competition Changed
Your home doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Maybe your price made sense when you listed, but three similar homes have since come onto the market at lower prices. Or perhaps another seller reduced their price and suddenly became your biggest competition. A good pricing strategy needs to respond to what’s happening around you.
You’ve Been on the Market Too Long
The first days and weeks of a listing are important because that’s when your home is new. Buyers who have been waiting for something like your property will see it almost immediately.
As time passes, that pool of buyers gets smaller. Eventually, buyers may start asking what’s wrong with the house simply because it has been available for a while.
That’s why it’s important to recognize when something isn’t working and make adjustments rather than simply waiting.
Sometimes the Market Is Just Slow
Not every problem is the house. Interest rates, inventory levels, economic uncertainty, holidays and even the time of year can affect buyer activity. There will be periods when excellent homes simply take longer to sell. The important thing is understanding whether the entire market is slow or just your listing.
What Should You Do?
Start with the data. Look at what’s sold since you listed. Look at what’s currently competing with you. Review showing activity and, most importantly, listen to Realtor. Sometimes something needs to change!
Could be that its the price. Sometimes it’s presentation or marketing. Sometimes patience really is the right strategy.
But if your home isn’t selling, doing the exact same thing for another month and hoping for a different result usually isn’t the best plan.
Real estate trends can vary significantly depending on where you are in Ottawa. While the overall market tells one story, individual communities often experience very different levels of sales activity, price movement, and buyer demand.
In this edition of our Suburban Statistics Series, we’re looking at five of Ottawa’s major suburban markets to see how each has performed so far in 2026. Using MLS® sales reported through OREB, we’ve compared activity from January 1 to July 1, 2026, against the same period last year to get a clearer picture of what’s changing across the city.
Ottawa’s real estate market is anything but uniform. In this edition of our Suburban Statistics Series, we’re examining how the city’s five largest suburban neighbourhoods are performing and where trends are emerging. The data below compares OREB MLS sales from January 1 through July 1, 2026, to the same period in 2025. It also captures the strongest year-over-year jump in sales activity we’ve seen in 2026.
The Ottawa housing market continued its slow but steady spring climb in May. Sales improved compared to April, buyers were more active, and homes that were priced properly continued to attract attention. However, we’re still seeing a very different market than we experienced during the spring rushes of the past few years.
If I had to summarize May in one sentence:
The market is healthy, but buyers are playing it safe and are taking their time.
Sales Picked Up, But Remain Behind Last Year
A total of 1,616 homes sold in Ottawa during May, up from 1,336 in April. That’s the seasonal increase we typically expect as the weather improves and more buyers begin shopping. However, sales were still down 10.6% compared to May of last year.
This isn’t because buyers have disappeared.
We’re still seeing plenty of showings, offers, and successful sales. The difference is that buyers have become more selective. They’re comparing more homes, negotiating harder, and are less willing to overlook pricing mistakes.
For sellers, this means preparation and pricing matter more than ever.
Inventory Continues to Grow
One of the biggest stories of 2026 remains inventory. Ottawa finished May with nearly 5,000 active listings, roughly 12% more than this time last year.
For buyers, that’s good news.
There are more homes to choose from, less pressure to make rushed decisions, and fewer situations where buyers feel forced into competing offers. For sellers, it means standing out has become increasingly important. Homes that are priced correctly and marketed properly continue to sell. Homes that miss the mark often sit longer and require price adjustments.
Home Prices Remain Remarkably Stable
Despite slower sales and increased inventory, prices have held up surprisingly well.
The average home sold for $721,270 in May, while the median sale price reached $660,000. Both figures were only slightly below where they were a year ago.
This is important because it highlights something we’ve been talking about for months: Ottawa is not experiencing a market correction. Instead, we’re seeing a normalization.
The frantic pandemic-era market is behind us, but strong population growth, stable employment, and relatively affordable housing compared to Toronto and Vancouver continue to support values.
Not All Property Types Are Performing the Same
The biggest mistake someone can make right now is looking at one city-wide statistic and assuming it applies to every home. We talk about this in our podcast. Ottawa is the most spread out major city in Canada. There are lots of different dynamics at play depending on the neighbourhood. With central locations being extremely active.
Single-Family Homes Continue to Lead
Detached homes remain the strongest segment of Ottawa’s market.
Benchmark pricing was slightly higher than last year, and median prices actually increased.
Townhomes Are Seeing More Competition
Townhomes remain popular, particularly with first-time buyers and military families, but increased inventory has created more competition. New builds took a huge chunk out of this segment in April and May. Leading to downward pressure on prices in this segment where builders have inventory: Kanata/Stittsville, Barrhaven.
Sales were down compared to last year, and pricing softened modestly. This isn’t a major concern, but it does mean sellers need to be realistic when setting expectations. Also, finding end units are selling much better than middle units in this segment.
Condos Remain the Softest Segment
Apartment-style condominiums continue to face the most pressure.
Higher carrying costs, increased inventory, and reduced investor demand have created a more challenging environment for condo sellers. Some of the older buildings’ condo fees are a runaway train! Buyers, have lots of choice in this segement. Getting a good deal is paramount.
What We’re Seeing on the Ground
Statistics are helpful, but they only tell part of the story.
What we’re seeing day-to-day is:
📈 Well-priced homes are still selling quickly, especially with the Chris Scott Team 🙂
🏡 Updated, move-in ready properties continue to outperform
💰 Buyers are negotiating more often than they were a year ago and walking from deals
📋 Conditional offers are becoming increasingly common
⏳ Overpriced homes are sitting longer and often selling after reductions
In many ways, this is what a healthy market looks like.
Neither buyers nor sellers have complete control, and success comes from strategy rather than simply relying on market momentum. In one word its BALANCED
What Happens Next?
As we move into summer, there are a few key indicators I’ll be watching closely:
● Inventory levels
● Days on market- our board will have more accurate numbers on this with new system
● Sale-to-list price ratios
● Interest rate decisions – I predict variables to lower. Maybe slightly on fixed too
● Employment trends – Public service will be the one to watch.
● New housing supply entering the market
If buyer confidence improves and inventory remains manageable, Ottawa should continue to see stable pricing through the second half of the year.
My Take
May was another reminder that Ottawa remains one of Canada’s most stable real estate markets.
We’re not seeing runaway price growth, but we’re also not seeing significant declines. Instead, we’re seeing a balanced market where buyers have options, sellers can still achieve excellent results, and strategy matters more than timing.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling this year, the biggest advantage isn’t trying to predict the market, it’s understanding your specific neighbourhood, property type, and competition. And that’s where local knowledge makes all the difference.
If you’d like to know what’s happening specifically in your neighbourhood, reach out anytime. We’re always happy to provide a personalized market update for your area.
Ottawa’s real estate market is anything but uniform. In this edition of our Suburban Statistics Series, we’re examining how the city’s five largest suburban neighbourhoods are performing and where trends are emerging. The data below compares OREB MLS sales from January 1 through June 1, 2026, to the same period in 2025. It also captures the strongest year-over-year jump in sales activity we’ve seen in 2026.
As part of our Suburban Statistics Series, we’re taking a closer look at Ottawa’s five largest urban neighbourhoods. With such a large and diverse city, market conditions can vary significantly from one area to another. The statistics below compare MLS sales reported through OREB between January 1 and May 1, 2026, against the same period in 2025.
There’s a lot of conversation right now about where the market is headed as we move into spring, and in this episode we unpack the key factors shaping real estate in Ottawa at the moment.
We look at how global and political conditions, including ongoing conflict in the Middle East, inflationary pressure, and Canada’s current majority government are influencing overall economic confidence. We also dive into interest rates, including recent movement in the five-year fixed, and what that means for buyers and sellers trying to plan their next move.
Another key topic is the recent HST change on new build homes under $1 million, and how that’s already impacting new construction activity across the city. With that surge in new build demand, we also explore the natural follow-up question: could this shift eventually affect resale inventory and pricing?
As always, we bring it back to what we’re actually seeing on the ground in Ottawa right now — increasing activity, more conversations with clients, and a market that’s starting to gain momentum as we move deeper into spring.
If you want a clearer picture of where things are heading and how all of these factors connect, this episode lays it out in a straightforward, practical way.
Here’s the latest update in our Suburban Statistics Series, highlighting insights from the five largest urban neighborhoods in Ottawa. Given the city’s expansive layout, it’s always interesting to see how market trends differ across each area. These statistics compare MLS OREB sales from January 1 to April 1, 2026, with the same period in 2025.
