Pricing Strategy 2026: How to Price Your Home Using the Latest TRREB Data

The best way to price your home is to start with what similar homes actually sold for, not what sellers are asking. Then adjust for your home's condition, location and features. Asking prices show hope. Sold prices show what buyers were willing to pay.

The numbers at the top of this page come from TRREB data and are rebuilt every month. This guide shows you how to read them, how to turn them into a price, and how to avoid common pricing mistakes in Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington and Milton. It does not repeat the figures, so it stays useful even as they change.

Why Price Matters More Than Anything Else

You can fix a tired kitchen. You can stage a living room. You can hire a great photographer. None of that helps if your price is out of line with the market.

Price decides who sees your home. Most buyers search within a price range. If your price is too high, the right buyers never see it. If it is too low, you may leave money on the table.

Price also sets the tone for the whole sale:

• A fair price brings more showings in the first weeks.
• More showings can lead to more than one offer.
• A listing that lingers makes buyers wonder what is wrong.
• A price cut later often nets less than the right price at the start.

How to Read the Numbers at the Top of This Page

The table above gives a side-by-side look at each city. Each line answers a different question. Here is what to look for.

Sale-to-list ratio

This shows the sold price as a share of the final asking price. If sold prices land below asking, buyers are negotiating discounts. If they land close to asking, buyers are paying what sellers ask. If they land above asking, bidding is common. Use it to guess how much room to expect between your list price and your final price.

Days on market for sold homes

This tells you how quickly well-priced homes actually sell. Compare your goal with this number, not with the time it takes active listings. Active listings include homes that are stuck, so they paint a gloomier picture.

Months of inventory

This is how long it would take to sell every active listing at the recent pace. Lower numbers favour sellers. Higher numbers favour buyers. Many people use about four months as a rough dividing line.

Sales-to-new-listings ratio

This compares how many homes sell with how many new ones appear. A low share means new listings are piling up faster than they sell. That makes standing out on price more important.

Price per square foot

This helps you compare homes of different sizes. But it is a rough tool. A home with a great renovation or a better lot can earn more per square foot than one next door.

Sold Price vs. Asking Price

Sellers often look at what neighbours are asking. That is a trap. Many asking prices never turn into sales.

Think of it this way. Asking prices are offers to sell. Sold prices are deals that actually happened. When the live numbers show a gap between the two, it tells you how much buyers are pushing back.

A wide gap often shows up as extra days on market. Homes priced close to what buyers will pay tend to sell faster. Homes priced above it sit and wait.

So build your price from sold homes. Use active listings only to see your competition.

A Step-by-Step Way to Set Your Price

1. Pick your comparables. Find homes sold recently that are close to yours in size, age, style and location. Aim for the same street or the same small neighbourhood.
2. Sort by how well they match. Put the closest matches first. A home on the next street may beat a home across the city.
3. Adjust for differences. Does your home have a finished basement, a newer roof, a bigger lot or a worse view? Add or subtract with care.
4. Check the timing. Sales from many months ago may not match today's conditions. Newer sales count more.
5. Look at active competition. See what is listed nearby. Think about how your home compares in price, condition and features.
6. Look at the trend. Are sold prices rising, falling or flat? Read the city market report for the bigger picture.
7. Choose a range, then a number. Decide on a range of fair prices. Then pick a list price within it.

Your agent can pull a comparative market analysis, or CMA. This is a report that lists comparable sales and shows how your home stacks up. It is more reliable than an automated online estimate, because a person can account for details a formula cannot see.

Why Local Comparables Beat City Averages

City-wide figures are a starting point. They hide big differences between streets, buildings and neighbourhoods.

• A home near a school, park or transit stop may sell for more than a similar one a few blocks away.
• Condos in one building can sell very differently from condos in another.
• Detached homes, townhouses and condos each follow their own patterns.
• A few high-end sales in a month can pull an average up, even if most homes did not change.

For example, a seller in Glen Abbey will care most about nearby detached sales, while a seller in Old Milton may want to compare older homes on mature lots with newer ones close by. If you own a condo, look at units in your own building first. You can browse Mississauga condos for sale to see how nearby units are priced.

The "List High, Drop Later" Trap

Some sellers think they should start high and cut the price later. It rarely works.

• The first weeks bring the most buyer attention. A high price wastes them.
• Buyers can see how long a home has been listed and whether the price changed.
• A price drop signals that the seller is under pressure.
• Buyers who wait for a second cut may offer well under the new price.

Our post on how long homes take to sell explains why the early days matter so much.