Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS®

The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS® totaled 449 units in October 2026. This was a sharp decrease of 17.2% from October 2025.

Home sales were 3.8% below the five-year average and 22.2% below the 10-year average for the month of October.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales totaled 4,374 units over the first 10 months of the year. This was down by 6.5% from the same period in 2025.

“Buyers continued to hold the advantage in a market where the supply of homes is running well ahead of demand. Despite a modest improvement in sales from September, activity remains below seasonal expectations, while the number of newly listed homes reached their second highest October record on record,” said Alyssa Ismail, President of the Windsor-Essex County Association of REALTORS®. “With nearly three homes coming onto the market for every one sold, it’s understandable that inventory remains elevated and prices continue to face downward pressure. This imbalance has been a defining feature of our local market throughout 2026, giving buyers greater choice, more negotiating room and less urgency when making purchasing decisions. Until we see a more meaningful improvement in sales activity or a sustained reductions in available inventory, these buyer friendly conditions are likely to persist for the foreseeable future.”

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 $561,600 in October 2026, a decline of 4.8% compared to October 2025.

The benchmark price for single-family homes was $604,900, down by 5.3% on a year-over-year basis in October. By comparison, the benchmark price for townhouse/row units was $412,700, a decrease of 5.2% compared to a year earlier, while the benchmark apartment price was $378,700, a small reduction of 3.9% from year-ago levels.

The average price of homes sold in October 2026 was $541,432, a minor decrease of 2.8% from October 2025.

The more comprehensive year-to-date average price was $544,483, a small reduction of 3.4% from the first 10 months of 2025.

The dollar value of all home sales in October 2026 was $243.1 million, a substantial decline of 19.4% from the same month in 2025.

The number of new listings saw a sharp decrease of 11.6% from October 2025. There were 1,250 new residential listings in October 2026.

New listings were 10.5% above the five-year average and 24.9% above the 10-year average for the month of October.

Active residential listings numbered 2,110 units on the market at the end of October, down modestly by 3.2% from the end of October 2025.

Active listings were 17.9% above the five-year average and 51.1% above the 10-year average for the month of October.

Months of inventory numbered 4.7 at the end of October 2026, up from the 4 months recorded at the end of October 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.