In August 2026, the median sale price of a single detached home in the Ottawa-region feed was $805,000, compared with $582,500 for a freehold townhouse—a difference of $222,500. That gap was $21,075 smaller than in August 2025, but $5,700 larger than in July 2026. The August comparison includes 379 detached and 207 freehold townhouse sold listing episodes.
For an owner considering a move from a townhouse to a detached home, the difference between the two markets is a useful starting point. Both the price of the home being sold and the price of the next home matter.
These figures compare separate groups of sales. They do not measure the additional cash a particular household would need to move.
Common scale: $0–$1,000,000. Source: PropTx; calculations by New Purveyors Lab. Sample sizes and middle-half ranges appear in the table below.
How far apart were Ottawa home prices in August?
Across the four property groups studied, median sale prices ranged from $385,500 for apartment condominiums to $805,000 for detached homes.
| Property type | August sold listing episodes | Median sale price | Middle 50% of sale prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment condominium | 128 | $385,500 | $305,225–$515,000 |
| Townhouse condominium | 73 | $386,000 | $358,600–$420,000 |
| Freehold townhouse | 207 | $582,500 | $529,995–$630,000 |
| Single detached | 379 | $805,000 | $683,445–$999,994 |
Source: New Purveyors Lab calculations from the PropTx VOW snapshot extracted September 10, 2026. The middle 50% runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile; it is not the full range or a forecast.
The detached median was 38.2% higher than the freehold townhouse median. The difference from an apartment condo to a freehold townhouse was $197,000; from an apartment condo to a detached home, it was $419,500.
These are regional comparisons. A townhouse and a detached home in the same neighbourhood, with similar condition and bedroom counts, could have a different gap.
Has the townhouse-to-detached gap become smaller?
It was smaller than a year earlier, although it widened from July to August.
| Reporting month | Freehold townhouse median | Detached median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | $601,425 | $845,000 | $243,575 |
| July 2026 | $598,200 | $815,000 | $216,800 |
| August 2026 | $582,500 | $805,000 | $222,500 |
Between August 2025 and August 2026, the detached median fell by $40,000 and the freehold townhouse median fell by $18,925. Because the detached median fell farther in dollar terms, the gap narrowed by $21,075.
The monthly comparison went the other way. From July to August, the townhouse median fell by $15,700 and the detached median fell by $10,000, widening the gap by $5,700.
This shows why a single headline about prices rising or falling can miss something relevant to a move. The difference between the two property groups can change even when both medians move in the same direction.
However, each period contains different homes. The figures do not track changes in the value of the same properties, and three monthly snapshots do not establish a sustained trend.
Why were apartment condos and condo townhouses almost the same price?
Their August medians were only $500 apart: $385,500 for apartment condos and $386,000 for condo townhouses. But their price distributions were quite different.
The middle half of apartment condo sales stretched from roughly $305,000 to $515,000. For condo townhouses, the corresponding range was much narrower, at roughly $359,000 to $420,000.
A nearly identical median therefore does not mean the two categories offer equivalent homes or ownership costs. The data here do not adjust for location, floor area, condition, building characteristics or condominium fees. They also do not establish why the medians were so close.
For someone comparing these options, the ranges are useful context: a category’s median leaves a substantial amount of variation out of view.
Does $222,500 tell you what it costs to move up?
The figure describes the difference between two group medians. An individual move depends on the likely sale price of the current home and the purchase price of the chosen replacement, along with mortgage balances, buying and selling expenses, and ongoing ownership costs.
The study does not calculate those amounts or monthly payments. It also does not establish that a smaller regional price gap makes a move affordable for a particular household.
Its practical use is to frame the next comparison: the homes an owner could realistically sell and buy in their preferred areas. For August, the regional townhouse-to-detached gap provides a $222,500 benchmark for that discussion.
Source and methodology
This analysis uses a PropTx VOW extraction taken September 10, 2026. “Ottawa region” refers to records with the feed’s Ottawa region field, rather than an independently verified municipal boundary or the full Ottawa Real Estate Board territory. Geographic coverage, withheld records and later source revisions remain limitations.
The four groups are single detached, freehold townhouse, apartment condominium and townhouse condominium. Together, they contain 787 August sold listing episodes. Another 73 records in the broad residential extraction fall outside those groups and are excluded. These figures do not cover every residential property type.
Sales are assigned to months using the purchase contract date, rather than the closing date. Sale prices use the provider’s recorded sale-price field. All included prices were valid positive numbers. Medians and quartiles are calculated separately for each property group; gaps subtract those medians. Quartiles use linear interpolation, with display values rounded only after calculation. No outlier trimming was applied.
The analysis requires at least 30 valid sales per group. All displayed groups meet that threshold, which does not guarantee statistical significance. Comparisons are unadjusted for geography and property characteristics. Listing episodes are not linked into unique homes, so relistings may affect the sample. Sold records describe completed sale agreements visible in the extraction, not the experience of every home offered for sale.
This edition uses 379 detached sold episodes from the API extraction. The supplied report snapshot used in our time-to-sell commentary contains 378. The two source snapshots have not been combined.
Data source: PropTx. Analysis and commentary: Matt Richling, New Purveyors Lab.
Cite this edition
Richling, Matt. “What is the price gap between an Ottawa townhouse and a detached home?” New Purveyors Lab. August 2026 edition, published September 10, 2026. Data source: PropTx. Permanent edition.