Seven hundred and ninety-five detached homes changed hands across the five regions in September, for $677.5 million. Last month’s report found that waterfront had longer median days on market than non-waterfront in all five regions. This month that did not repeat.
In September, median days on market were higher for waterfront than for non-waterfront detached sales in Simcoe County (49 against 32) and Muskoka (41 against 27), two days lower in Kawartha Lakes (37 against 39), and lower by 19 and 20 days in Parry Sound and Haliburton. August gave a uniform pattern and September gave a mixed one. That is the useful finding: one month of data should be read as one month.
The full breakdown
| Region | Segment | Active | Sales | Median sold | Median SP/LP | Median DOM | Total volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simcoe County | Waterfront | 347 | 30 | $1,302,500 | 95% | 49 | $48,056,000 |
| Simcoe County | Non-Waterfront | 2,888 | 431 | $739,900 | 97% | 32 | $334,369,309 |
| Muskoka | Waterfront | 427 | 63 | $1,100,000 | 93% | 41 | $108,502,500 |
| Muskoka | Non-Waterfront | 367 | 50 | $595,000 | 96% | 27 | $31,003,411 |
| Parry Sound | Waterfront | 313 | 39 | $790,000 | 96% | 46 | $36,953,277 |
| Parry Sound | Non-Waterfront | 238 | 28 | $427,500 | 95% | 65 | $13,377,000 |
| Kawartha Lakes | Waterfront | 186 | 28 | $810,000 | 95% | 37 | $26,241,000 |
| Kawartha Lakes | Non-Waterfront | 398 | 64 | $572,750 | 97% | 39 | $39,624,000 |
| Haliburton | Waterfront | 212 | 41 | $650,000 | 95% | 37 | $29,561,100 |
| Haliburton | Non-Waterfront | 126 | 21 | $475,000 | 96% | 57 | $9,785,300 |
SP/LP = sale price divided by list price. DOM = days on market. Median sold, SP/LP and DOM are medians for September sales. Source: The Habistat, Market Insights, detached homes, sales 1–30 September 2026. Median asking prices for current active inventory are discussed below as context only. They describe a different set of properties from the sales.
Across the five regions that is 795 sales and $677.5 million, against 851 sales and $733.8 million in August: 6.6 per cent fewer sales and 7.7 per cent less volume.
What changed since August
Here is the median days-on-market column, waterfront against non-waterfront, for both months.
| Region | Waterfront, Aug → Sept | Non-waterfront, Aug → Sept | Gap (waterfront minus non-waterfront), Aug → Sept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simcoe County | 39 → 49 | 28 → 32 | +11 → +17 days |
| Muskoka | 49 → 41 | 31 → 27 | +18 → +14 days |
| Parry Sound | 39 → 46 | 36 → 65 | +3 → −19 days |
| Kawartha Lakes | 51 → 37 | 33 → 39 | +18 → −2 days |
| Haliburton | 44 → 37 | 42 → 57 | +2 → −20 days |
A positive gap means the waterfront median was higher. Simcoe County and Muskoka kept the August shape, at 17 and 14 days higher. In Kawartha Lakes the waterfront median fell from 51 to 37 days and the two medians were two days apart. In Parry Sound and Haliburton the gap reversed. In Haliburton both medians moved: waterfront 44 to 37, non-waterfront 42 to 57. In Parry Sound the waterfront median rose (39 to 46) and the gap flipped because the non-waterfront median jumped from 36 to 65.
I would not read a cause into any of that. The Parry Sound and Haliburton non-waterfront medians describe 28 and 21 sales respectively; they should not be treated as estimates for individual properties.
Sale-to-list was steadier. Median sale-to-list ratios ranged from 93 to 96 per cent across the waterfront segments and from 95 to 97 per cent across the non-waterfront segments. Waterfront was lower in Simcoe County, Muskoka, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton, and higher in Parry Sound (96 against 95). Simcoe County, Muskoka and Kawartha Lakes waterfront have now been below non-waterfront on this measure in both months. Muskoka waterfront was again the lowest segment on the table, at 93 per cent.
A word on what these columns are and are not. The comparison is waterfront against non-waterfront, which is how the data is filtered, not town against country. A non-waterfront sale in this table might be in the middle of Bracebridge or on forty acres outside it.
One oddity worth a note
In nine of the ten segments, the median asking price of current active inventory sits above the median sold price. Simcoe County waterfront is the exception: median asking $1,199,000 against a median sold of $1,302,500. A note rather than a conclusion. Those are 347 standing listings and 30 September sales, two different sets of properties, so it says nothing about whether any particular listing is priced right. Last month’s exception was Muskoka waterfront, where the two sat close together; this month Muskoka waterfront asking is $1,225,000 against $1,100,000 sold.
Muskoka waterfront: average and median tell different stories
Across 63 Muskoka waterfront sales, the average price was $1,722,262 and the median was $1,100,000. The average was about 57 per cent above the median. The median identifies the middle sale by price; the average reflects the prices of all sales. Neither is a valuation of an individual property.
Simcoe County waterfront shows a milder version (the average about 23 per cent above the median), and Parry Sound waterfront is narrower than in August, at about 20 per cent against about 42 per cent in last month’s report. For the middle of the market, read the median.
Region by region
Simcoe County non-waterfront accounted for 431 sales, 54 per cent of the five-region total, and $334.4 million, just under half of the $677.5 million. Its median sale-to-list was 97 per cent and its median days on market 32 (28 in August). Simcoe County waterfront posted a $1,302,500 median on 30 sales, up from $1,170,000 in August, with a median of 49 days.
Muskoka recorded the most waterfront detached sales among the five regions: 63, for $108.5 million, at a $1,100,000 median (down from $1,200,000), 93 per cent and 41 days (49 in August). Non-waterfront Muskoka was the quickest segment on the table at a 27-day median, on 50 sales and a $595,000 median.
Parry Sound waterfront turned over 39 sales and $37.0 million at a $790,000 median, 46 days and 96 per cent. Non-waterfront was the slowest segment on the table: a 65-day median on 28 sales and a $427,500 median.
Kawartha Lakes non-waterfront carried the second-highest sale count on the table, 64 sales, at 97 per cent and 39 days. Waterfront sold at an $810,000 median on 28 sales, with the median down from 51 days to 37.
Haliburton is the smallest market here, 62 sales in all. Last month it had the smallest gap of any region. This month it has the largest, in the other direction: waterfront at 37 days on 41 sales, non-waterfront at 57 days on 21.
If you are selling this fall
Read both halves of the table. Recent sold prices show what buyers have paid. Current listings show the properties offered for sale and their asking prices, and an asking price is not a sale price. A regional median cannot establish your property’s value or predict its time on market. If you would like a written opinion on a specific property, you can request a Home Value Opinion.
If you are buying
For a buyer, one comparison stands out. Active waterfront listings were lower than a month earlier in all five regions: Simcoe County 367 to 347, Muskoka 482 to 427, Parry Sound 330 to 313, Kawartha Lakes 220 to 186 and Haliburton 232 to 212. These counts compare active listings on two pull dates. They show fewer listed waterfront properties in each region at the latest snapshot; they do not establish why the counts fell or predict what comes next.
Bill’s Insider Take
Last month I wrote that waterfront taking longer to sell in all five regions was a pattern worth planning around. September says it did not persist across all five: waterfront median days on market were higher in two regions and lower in three, with only two days between the Kawartha Lakes medians. I would rather correct that here than let it harden into a rule of thumb. Median sale-to-list for waterfront stayed below non-waterfront in Simcoe County, Muskoka and Kawartha Lakes in both months, but that is two months, so I would treat it as something to watch.
Bill Jackson, Sales Representative | Lake Country Real Estate Team | eXp Realty, Brokerage | Serving Simcoe County, Muskoka, Parry Sound, Kawartha Lakes & Haliburton
