Thanks to a sluggish start to the year, home prices in several Canadian housing markets are falling, and two Ontario cities are among those seeing the biggest declines.Â
According to the February 2026 House Price Index released by Canadian real estate platform Wahi and property data firm Real Property Solutions, national home prices dropped two per cent year over year, matching the decline observed in January.Â
The latest data also reveals that five out of the 13 major Canadian housing markets are now seeing annual price declines, including Hamilton, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and most recently, Ottawa.Â
Source: Wahi/RPS.
The city has now become the first major real estate market outside the GTHA or B.C. to witness home values declining on a year-over-year basis. Toronto and Hamilton began witnessing home prices decline at the beginning of 2025, and Ottawa has now joined the mix, with home prices decreasing annually by one per cent last month.Â
According to the report, it’s been nearly three years since five or more out of the 13 major metro areas in Canada witnessed house prices decline.Â
“Price drops may grab headlines, but these declines potentially overshadow the fact that home prices remain up relative to where they stood a year ago in a majority of Canada’s major housing markets,” said RPS-Wahi Economist Ryan McLaughlin.
Hamilton and Toronto both saw house prices decline by six per cent year-over-year.Â
Overall, the condo market remained the weakest nationally, with prices down five per cent year-over-year nationally. Other properties, including townhouses, also saw prices drop by five per cent, while semi-detached homes and detached homes saw more modest declines at three per cent and two per cent, respectively.
“Despite Ottawa’s recent decline, the market has been generally characterized by stability in recent months,” the report concludes. “The local real estate board suggests the market is less prone to the more pronounced swings that have defined real estate cycles in the GTHA.”Â