Where Ontario Homes Sell Above Asking
The share of homes that sold at or above what the seller originally asked — measured against the first asking price of the relisting chain, so a home relisted at a lower price cannot flatter the numbers. High above-asking rates often say as much about local pricing strategy (listing low to invite bidding) as about market strength; read them together with the sale-to-list ratio below.
- Report period
- 2026 Q3
- Status
- FINAL
- Eligible sales
- 35,180
- Methodology
- v1.1 · full notes
Finalized October 2, 2026 — these figures are frozen and will not change without a visible revision note.
Analyst commentary — 2026 Q3
Commentary for this report period has not been published yet. The figures on this page come straight from the finalized snapshot data above.
At or Above Original Asking — 2026 Q3
Share of eligible sales at or above the original asking price. Ontario overall: 20.4%.
| City | At/above asking | Eligible sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1Timmins | 69.5% | 164 |
| 2Thunder Bay | 68.5% | 368 |
| 3Kenora | 62.3% | 69 |
| 4Kitchener | 41.9% | 489 |
| 5North Bay | 40.6% | 217 |
| 6Waterloo | 39.5% | 263 |
| 7Kenora Remote Area | 36.2% | 58 |
| 8Markham | 35.5% | 769 |
| 9Cambridge | 35.1% | 291 |
| 10Ajax | 33.1% | 257 |
Cities below the disclosure floor are excluded — sample sizes shown per city. Full table, every metric and every city: open the interactive index.
What Sellers Asked vs What Buyers Paid
Two ratios tell the strategy apart: sale ÷ original ask uses the first price the home was ever listed at; sale ÷ final ask uses the price it sold from. A wide gap between them means price cuts and relistings did the work.
Where Bidding Pressure Is Building — or Fading
Biggest changes in the at/above-asking rate among qualifying cities.
| City | 2026 Q2 | Current | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pembroke | 27.1% | 11.3% | -15.8 pts |
| Quinte West | 29.6% | 14.1% | -15.5 pts |
| Dysart Et Al | 25.8% | 12.7% | -13.1 pts |
| Saugeen Shores | 31.0% | 17.9% | -13.1 pts |
| Severn | 20.7% | 8.5% | -12.2 pts |
| Frontenac | 21.3% | 9.7% | -11.6 pts |
| Essa | 14.3% | 3.1% | -11.2 pts |
| Prince Edward County | 20.8% | 9.8% | -11.0 pts |
| Thunder Bay | 79.3% | 68.5% | -10.8 pts |
| Carleton Place | 16.7% | 6.3% | -10.4 pts |
Year-over-year comparison is not available yet (the series starts Q3 2025) — showing change vs the prior quarter (2026 Q2). Red = market moving hotter, green = cooler.
Above Asking ≠ Above Value
“Sold over asking” is a comparison with the seller's chosen number, not with the home's worth. In neighbourhoods where agents deliberately list below expected value with an offer date, most sales go “over asking” by design. In markets where sellers price at or above expected value, few do — even when prices are firm. That is why we anchor to the original asking price and publish both ratios; the mechanics are unpacked in our original-vs-final asking price guide and the sale-to-list ratio guide.
Cross-reference with market speed: a city that is both fast and high above-asking is genuinely competitive; a city that is slow but “over asking” is usually a list-low pocket.
Keep exploring
- Ontario Market Heat Index
The full interactive index — every city, metric, period and property type.
- Guide: Original vs final asking price
Why the first asking price matters more than the last, with worked examples.
- Guide: Sale-to-list price ratio
How to read 98% vs 103% — and the list-low trap in the averages.
- Fastest-selling markets
Which above-asking cities are also fast — the real competitiveness test.
- Price reductions report
The other side of the ledger: where sellers are cutting instead.
- Browse Ontario listings
See current homes for sale in the markets ranked above.