We've spent a lot of time over the last couple of years talking about declining prices, higher inventory and buyers having more negotiating power.

But we've also seen some signs this year that the market may be starting to stabilize. So what happened in August? Let's take a look.

August was kind of a mixed bag of numbers. The volume of Sales in August dipped after 5 months of increases in 2026.

For the most part, the number of new listings has been dropping all year and across Simcoe County new listings coming on the market are down 12 percent. But the number of sales is just down 1%. That difference is something to pay attention to.

August is traditionally a slower month. People are busy trying to cram in the last of the summer activities and selling their house or buying a house doesn’t really register with a lot of people. New listings will pick up in September.

Simcoe County:

Let's start with the big picture. Across Simcoe County, 657 properties sold in August — that's up 1% from last year, so sales held steady. To me, 1% difference is not anything worth paying attention to. Whether it is 1% change in price, number of listings or number of sales. But the average price came down 6% and the number of new listings is off by 12%.

Detached Houses in Barrie:

Now let's zoom into Barrie proper, starting with detached houses — because this is actually the strongest segment in the city right now. 108 homes sold, up 5% from last year. Average price came in at $740,325, down 5%. But inline with the numbers we have been seeing throughout 2026. And here's the key number: months of inventory dropped to 4.8, down almost a full month. That's the tightest inventory of any Barrie housing type we're covering today.

Detached homes are the closest thing to a seller's market in Barrie right now — sales are up and inventory is shrinking.

Townhouses in Barrie

Townhouses tell a different story. Sales were down almost a third to 20 units, while average price dipped 2% to $582,445. What stands out here is new listings — up 29% to 66. More sellers listed, but fewer buyers closed, which pushed months of inventory up to 5.3, an increase of 1.7 months. Days on market also rose to 30, up 5 days.

Townhouses shifted toward buyers in August but I don't think that will last. Townhouses have always been an easy thing to sell in Barrie. Let’s wait and see what the numbers will be in September. I bet they will be back to normal.

Condominiums

And this brings us around to condos. I thought maybe condos were coming out of their slump last month because both the price and number of sales were up in July but that doesn’t seem to be the case as both of those numbers have fallen back down below last year’s levels. Condos went the opposite way from detached houses in Barrie.

The number that really tells the story is months of inventory: 9.6, up 2.4 months from last year. Interestingly, days on market actually dropped 6 days to 40 — so the condos that ARE selling are moving a bit faster, but overall demand has clearly pulled back."

If you're a condo buyer, you are still in the driver’s seat. If you're selling, pricing and presentation matter more than ever.

Innisfil Detached

As prices dropped in Innisfil, buyers seemed to come out of the woodwork with sales volume up and DOM dropping 14 days. That means the well priced and well presented houses are selling fast once they come on the market and the houses that are priced for 2022 are lingering. A big 15% drop in price sure helps the buyers too.

Oro-Medonte

Oro-Medonte took it pretty hard in August. Probably the weakest market in the area today. Prices were down. Sales were down. But DOM dropped by over a week, so again, buyers are out there and good houses sell fast.

Springwater

Springwater was on fire for sales in August jumping 37% to 22 homes, and average price climbed 13% to over $1,061,000 — now the highest average price of any area we're covering. Higher priced homes generally take longer to sell. The buyer pool is smaller for a $1,200,000 house than it is for a $600,000 house so they do sit on the market longer.

Essa

Essa saw a big boost in both the average price and the number of sales. Well 3% increase in the average price isn’t exactly a huge amount but when you compare it to all the other areas, Essa was the big winner in August. Even with an over 50% increase in new listings, the Months of Inventory still dropped. Essa was the active market in August.

What Does This Mean If You're Thinking of Selling?

And this is probably the most important part for homeowners.

If you're thinking about selling your home this fall, I wouldn't make the decision based on one statistic—or one headline you see in the news.

I'd want to know what's actually happening with homes similar to yours, in your neighbourhood, and how much competition you're going to be facing. Because even in a slower market, properly priced homes are selling.

If you're thinking about selling, or you're considering downsizing and you're wondering what your options look like, feel free to get in touch with me.

I'd be happy to give you an idea of what your home is worth and explain what's happening in your particular part of the market.

Is the real estate market finally turning around?

Well, I have some good news for you this month.

But there's a catch.  Depending on what you're selling—and where you're selling it—the market can look completely different

The real estate market isn't moving in one direction. It depends very heavily on what you're selling and where you are.

I think the market turn around is just going to happen and most people won’t notice it until it is well underway.

Simcoe County

Here is the big picture for all of Simcoe County.

739 sales, up 6%

Average price $744,131, down 9%

New listings 2,100, down 15%

6.1 months of inventory, down from 6.9

Average 39 days on market

Looking at Simcoe County as a whole, July was actually a little more active than last year, with sales up 6%. Prices are still down 9%, but we're also seeing fewer new listings and inventory has dropped to 6.1 months. So overall, we're still in a buyer-friendly market, but the numbers suggest the market may be starting to tighten up a little.

Barrie Detached:

I'm here in Barrie with detached houses because this is one of the encouraging parts of the July statistics."

Sales were up an impressive 24% compared with July of last year.

Now, before I tell you the market is suddenly booming again, there's something else we need to look at.

Prices are still down about 6% from a year ago, so we're certainly not back to the market we had a few years ago."

But look at the inventory. We're down to 4.4 months of inventory."

That is sitting squarely in a balanced market.

So if you're a homeowner with a detached house in Barrie, this is probably the part of the July report I'd be paying the most attention to.

Townhouses:

Now let's move down the road a little bit and look at townhouses."

"Something interesting happens here."

Sales are down 10%.

That may sound like a lot but there were only 26 sales in July so that 10% works out to 3 less sales than last year. Not a huge deal in the big scope of things.

So sales are down 10%, but here's the interesting part: new listings are down 27%. There is less inventory for those buyers to choose from. If there had of been more inventory, I bet we would have had more sales. Buyers are still there, they are just waiting for more selection.

Barrie Condos:

Now we're at one of the more interesting parts of the July report — Barrie condominiums.

And I have to admit, these numbers surprised me a little bit.

Let's start with sales. There were 30 condos sold in July, which is 15% more than we saw in July of last year.

And the average price? $524,033 — up 3%.

So, unlike some of the other segments we're looking at, both sales and prices are actually moving in the right direction.

But there's another number here that I think is even more interesting. There were only 70 new condo listings in July — that's 30% fewer than last year.

And because we have fewer new listings coming onto the market, inventory has dropped to 5.5 months, which is about two months lower than it was a year ago.

Now, 5.5 months of inventory is still not a tight market. Buyers still have choices, and condos are taking an average of 50 days to sell.

But when you put all of these numbers together — more sales, slightly higher prices, fewer new listings and substantially lower inventory — I think there's a reasonable argument that the Barrie condo market may finally be starting to stabilize."

Innisfil:

And this is where things get a little bit confusing. Because if you drive about 20 minutes south of Barrie, the story changes quite a bit.

Fifty homes sold in Innisfil during July, which is up 16% from last year. So far, so good.

But the average price was down 35%.      Thirty-five percent.

Now, before somebody reading this who owns a house in Innisfil starts preparing to sell at a 35% discount, there's an important caveat here. I went back to my video from last year about July statistics to find out why that number was so high and it turns out there was one sale for $11,500,000 in July 2025 that really skewed the average higher.

So that explains the 35% drop. If you live in Innisfil, don’t panic, your house did not lose 35% of its value in one month.

And now we head north, because the market looks very different in some of the rural areas.

Oro-Medonte

The main story here is that the market has become more challenging for sellers.

Only 23 properties sold, down 24% from last July. Average price was $937,130, down 13%.

There are now 8.2 months of inventory, up from 7.1. Homes are taking an average of 48 days to sell.

Oro-Medonte continues to be a challenging market for sellers. Sales are down 24%, the average price is down 13%, and we now have over eight months of inventory. So buyers have plenty of choice, and sellers need to be realistic about pricing.

Springwater

Springwater is somewhat similar, but not quite as negative.

23 properties sold, down 8%. Average price was $962,252, down 7%.

New listings were basically unchanged, down only 1%. Inventory is 7.3 months, down from 8 months.

Homes are taking 30 days to sell.

"Springwater is also a buyer-friendly market, with 7.3 months of inventory. Prices are down 7% from last year, but inventory has actually improved slightly, and homes are selling in about 30 days. So it's a softer market, but it's not necessarily getting worse."

Both Oro-Medonte and Springwater are still buyer-friendly markets, with considerably more months of inventory than we're seeing in Barrie. Oro-Medonte is showing more weakness, while Springwater looks a little more stable.

So, what do I take away from all of this?

Well, I think the biggest thing is that the market is still very different depending on what you're selling and where you are.

In Barrie, detached homes and townhouses are looking considerably healthier in the sales as is Innisfil, and the condo market is showing some encouraging signs as well.

Outside of Barrie, particularly in Oro-Medonte and Springwater, buyers still have quite a bit more choice.

And across Simcoe County, prices are still below where they were a year ago, but we're seeing fewer new listings and less inventory.

So I wouldn't call this a booming market, and we're certainly not back to the market we saw a few years ago. But there are some signs that the market is becoming more balanced.

As always, if you're thinking about buying or selling, the important thing is to look at what's happening in your particular neighbourhood and your particular type of property. The overall Simcoe County number doesn't tell the whole story.