Durham Region Market Report: Q1 2026

Q1 2026 is in the books and the Durham Region real estate market looks meaningfully different than it did a year earlier. Here is what the TRREB data shows, and what it means for sellers and buyers making decisions right now.

Period covered: January to March 2026. Every figure below is the Durham Region row of the TRREB Market Watch report for March 2026 and is labelled as such. A regional average is a general guide, not a valuation of your specific home. For that, ask us for a free valuation, and for the live picture use our Durham Region market reports.

Durham Region recorded 640 sales in March 2026 at an average price of $835,985 and a median of $800,000, with the average listing taking 24 days to sell. Detached homes averaged $940,936. Source: TRREB Market Watch, March 2026. Against December 2025, when the average was $844,473 across 455 sales at 38 days on market, that is a market roughly flat on price and considerably faster on time. Source: TRREB Market Watch, December 2025.

Active listings stood at 1,900 in March 2026 against 1,576 new listings and 640 sales, with TRREB's sales-to-new-listings ratio (trend) at 39.5%. Source: TRREB Market Watch, March 2026. That is the shape of a market with real choice in it: buyers are not forced, so well-prepared homes in strong locations sell for defendable prices while poorly-prepared homes sit. The full period-by-period record back to 2022 is in our Durham Region market retrospective.

Oshawa detached homes averaged $779,762 across 117 sales in March 2026, the most affordable detached entry point in the region and well below the $940,936 Durham detached average. Source: TRREB Market Watch, March 2026. Current city-level numbers for Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Clarington, updated from TRREB MLS data rather than quoted from a quarter-old report, are on the market pages.

Preparation is the entire ball game in this market. The homes that sell are the homes that look finished, photograph well, and tell a story. Homes that list as-is, with iPhone photos, are sitting. If you are planning to list in Q2 or Q3 of 2026, budget seriously for preparation: paint, staging, professional photography, video, and a real marketing plan.

If you are considering a pre-sale renovation, a 24-day average market is the case for it: the buyer has time to compare your home against every other home on the street. Across our 18 completed Renos for Revenue projects, analyzed July 2026, the median project returned $1.95 in gross sale-price lift for every renovation dollar, a median profit of 95% on renovation cost. The program funds the work at zero upfront cost and collects at closing.

You have leverage. Active listings outnumbered March sales roughly three to one and the average home took 24 days to sell. Source: TRREB Market Watch, March 2026. Sellers of poorly-prepared homes are negotiable. If you have been waiting for a window with time in it, this is a reasonable one, especially if you have the flexibility to take a dated home and update it over time. Our buyer market insights page tracks the same measures month to month.

Get pre-approved, know your real budget, and work with an agent who will tell you when to walk away from a home, not just when to buy it.