By The Toombs Team
👉 📖 View TheMarket – May 2026 Edition
More Sales, Softer Prices & A Market Finding Balance
April’s numbers are in, and the York Region real estate market is doing something many people didn’t expect.
Sales activity is increasing, buyers are becoming more active again, yet prices continue to soften across nearly every major community.
At first glance, that may sound contradictory. But in reality, it highlights exactly where today’s market stands: not crashing, not booming, but steadily rebalancing.
Sales Activity Is Picking Up
Across York Region, 980 homes sold in April 2026, compared to 909 sales last year, representing a healthy 7.8% increase in activity year-over-year.
Locally, the increase was even more noticeable:
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Newmarket: 83 sales (+25.8%)
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Aurora: 65 sales (+6.6%)
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East Gwillimbury: 41 sales (+28.1%)
This tells us buyers are slowly stepping back into the market after a slower start to the year.
However, while activity has improved compared to 2025, we’re still operating below the levels seen during stronger market years. For perspective, York Region recorded 1,290 sales in April 2024, meaning current activity still sits roughly 24% below more normalized spring market levels.
Prices Continue to Adjust
Despite stronger sales activity, average sale prices continue to trend downward across the region.
York Region’s average sale price in April landed at $1,137,489, down approximately 10% year-over-year.
Locally:
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Aurora: $1,202,106 (-9.2%)
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Newmarket: $1,011,833 (-10.1%)
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East Gwillimbury: $1,014,125 (-9.9%)
While these numbers may appear dramatic at first glance, they don’t necessarily mean every segment of the market is declining equally. A major factor influencing the averages right now is what’s happening at the luxury end of the market.
Luxury Sales Have Slowed Significantly
One of the biggest shifts in today’s market is the slowdown in luxury home sales.
Across York Region, there were just 53 sales over $2 million in April 2026.
To put that into perspective:
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2021: 227 luxury sales
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2022: 194
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2023: 181
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2024: 148
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2025: 81
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2026: 53
That’s a substantial decline in high-end market activity over the past several years.
Locally, luxury sales were minimal:
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Newmarket: 1 sale over $2M
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Aurora: 3 sales (including one large vacant land transaction)
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East Gwillimbury: 0 sales
This matters because fewer luxury transactions naturally pull down overall average sale prices across the market, even if prices within certain neighbourhoods or housing types remain relatively stable.
Affordability continues to be the driving force behind this shift, as many buyers remain cautious at higher price points.
Inventory Remains Balanced
Interestingly, inventory levels aren’t surging the way many people assume.
Across York Region, there were 5,196 active listings in April, actually down 5.6% year-over-year from 5,502 listings last year.
Locally:
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Aurora: 296 listings (+2.1%)
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Newmarket: 349 listings (+0.6%)
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East Gwillimbury: 196 listings (-15.2%)
So while buyers have more leverage than they’ve had in recent years, we’re not seeing a flood of new listings. Instead, what we’re seeing is a more balanced supply meeting a more cautious and price-sensitive buyer pool.
A Market Defined by Negotiation
Another major indicator of today’s conditions is Months of Inventory (MOI) a metric measuring how long it would take to sell all current listings at the current pace of sales.
York Region currently sits at approximately 5.3 months of inventory.
For comparison:
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2025: 6.05 months
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2023: 1.32 months
That’s a dramatic shift from the extreme seller’s market conditions of just a few years ago.
Today’s market is much more balanced and in many areas, increasingly buyer-focused. Buyers have more time, more negotiating power, and more options than they’ve had in years.
What This Means for Buyers & Sellers
The biggest takeaway from April’s market is this:
Demand still exists, but buyers are being far more selective.
Homes that are well-priced, properly prepared, and strategically marketed are still generating activity. But buyers are negotiating harder, comparing more options, and moving more carefully than they did during the pandemic-era market.
For sellers, this means pricing precision and presentation matter more than ever.
For buyers, this market is creating opportunities that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.
The Takeaway
May’s market update, based on April statistics, confirms that York Region continues to move through a healthy market rebalancing.
Sales are improving. Inventory remains manageable. Prices are adjusting gradually. And buyers are returning, cautiously.
This isn’t a market driven by fear or frenzy. It’s one increasingly driven by strategy, affordability, and informed decision-making.
If you’d like a deeper breakdown of local trends, charts, and neighbourhood-specific data, be sure to check out the latest edition of TheMarket Report from the Toombs Team.
And if you’re wondering what your home may be worth in today’s market, we’re always happy to help.
👉 Get your complimentary home value:
toombs.team/value
Or reach out directly, a member of the Toombs Team would be happy to walk through your situation with clarity and honesty.
We’ll see you next month.
