Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS®

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS® totaled 297 units in January 2026. This was a decrease of 9.5% from January 2025.

Home sales were 13.3% below the five-year average and 19.7% below the 10-year average for the month of January.

“MLS® home sales eased from January 2025, marking the quietest single month we’ve seen in more than a year and the slowest start to a year since 2014. New listings bounced back after the usual December slowdown and were broadly in line with this time last year, coming in above what we typically see for January,” said Julianna Biondo, President of the Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS®. “Active listings are holding steady from the end of 2025 and remain elevated compared to historical norms. Prices are stable, with the MLS® HPI Composite Benchmark edging higher from late December, supported in part by continued strength in the townhouse segment.”

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 $574,700 in January 2026, falling by 2.1% compared to January 2025.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $616,600, a modest decline of 2.4% on a year-over-year basis in January. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $468,900, up by 7.9% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $396,600, a minor decrease of 2.6% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in January 2026 was $519,923, decreasing by 7.1% from January 2025.

The dollar value of all home sales in January 2026 was $154.4 million, down by 15.9% from the same month in 2025.

The number of new listings saw a minor increase of 1.3% (12 listings) from January 2025. There were 939 new residential listings in January 2026. This was the largest number of new listings added in the month of January in more than 15 years.

New listings were 21.9% above the five-year average and 40.5% above the 10-year average for the month of January.

Active residential listings numbered 1,503 units on the market at the end of January, a sizable gain of 17.1% from the end of January 2025. Active listings haven’t been this high in the month of January in more than a decade.

Active listings were 44.2% above the five-year average and 61.7% above the 10-year average for the month of January.

Months of inventory numbered 5.1 at the end of January 2026, up from the 3.9 months recorded at the end of January 2025 and above the long-run average of 2.7 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.