Housing Absorption Report Q1 2026

Across Canada’s major housing markets, the latest CMA figures show a set of provincial mismatches between product type, price, and the point at which buyers are taking completed units out of the market.

The national totals show the split clearly. Multi-unit housing is absorbing better at completion than detached product, with 73% of completed multi-unit units absorbed at completion, compared with 64% of completed detached homes. Finished multi-unit supply is also heavier. The CMAs ended the period with 11,783 completed and unabsorbed multi-unit units, versus 7,828 detached homes. That leaves multi-unit inventory at 10.57 months of supply, compared with 7.80 months for detached.

Absorption at completion does not fully describe market pressure. A project can deliver with reasonable absorption and still leave a large stock of completed units to clear afterward. The figures capture both sides: units absorbed at completion, units absorbed from inventory, remaining completed stock, and the implied life of that inventory. Some CMAs are clearing new product quickly. Others are relying more heavily on post-completion sales. In several markets, the remaining stock is large enough to affect builder timing, pricing discussions, and the release of future phases.

British Columbia has the most visible multi-unit overhang. Vancouver closed the period with 4,054 completed and unabsorbed multi-unit units, Victoria with 846, Kelowna with 634, and Abbotsford-Mission with 213. These are not inactive markets. Vancouver absorbed 1,620 multi-unit units at completion and another 1,206 from existing inventory, while Victoria absorbed 224 at completion and 156 from inventory. The issue is the amount still left to clear. Vancouver’s multi-unit inventory life stands at 16.33 months, Victoria’s at 23.03 months, Kelowna’s at 24.75 months, and Abbotsford-Mission’s at 80.13 months.

The B.C. numbers also sit beside the highest detached prices in the dataset. Vancouver’s average detached price is about $2.59 million, Abbotsford-Mission’s about $1.93 million, Kelowna’s about $1.76 million, and Victoria’s about $1.65 million. Detached housing remains expensive to purchase and difficult to replace, while multi-unit projects carry the completed-stock burden when sales do not fully match delivery schedules. For builders and lenders, the operational question is how long capital remains tied up in finished units after construction is complete.

Alberta reads differently. Calgary looks like a high-volume market that is still moving product at a workable pace. It completed 2,329 detached homes and 1,111 multi-unit units, absorbing 70% of detached completions and 63% of multi-unit completions. Its remaining inventory is significant in absolute terms, with 1,292 detached homes and 885 multi-unit units closing unabsorbed, but the life of inventory is moderate: 8.40 months for detached and 8.53 months for multi-unit.

Edmonton carries the largest detached closing stock in the table, at 2,156 completed and unabsorbed detached homes. On its own, that number could suggest excess supply. The inventory-life figure gives a different read. Edmonton’s detached stock represents 6.03 months of supply, shorter than Calgary’s and below the national detached figure. The weaker point is absorption at completion: only 35% of detached completions were absorbed at completion, compared with 55% of multi-unit completions. More detached product is moving after completion rather than at delivery. For production builders, that can change carrying costs, sales staffing, and the timing of starts, even if the broader market remains active.

Ontario shows a more uneven pattern, with detached inventory pressure concentrated outside the core Toronto market. Toronto itself remains liquid at completion. It completed 878 detached homes and 3,586 multi-unit units, absorbing 85% of detached completions and 94% of multi-unit completions. It still closed with 485 unabsorbed detached homes and 965 unabsorbed multi-unit units. The multi-unit inventory life, at 16.43 months, is elevated, but Toronto’s scale makes the figure less surprising than in smaller markets.

The sharper Ontario signal is detached inventory life in surrounding and secondary CMAs. Ottawa shows 75.43 months of detached inventory. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo is at 32.67 months, Oshawa at 31.00, London at 28.80, Hamilton at 22.93, and Barrie at 17.90. Those figures do not mean every one of those markets is frozen. Several still posted strong absorption at completion. Ottawa absorbed 90% of detached completions at completion, Oshawa 100%, and Barrie 92%. The tension is between completed inventory carried over from prior periods and the pace at which that stock is now being cleared. Pricing, product configuration, move-in timing, and buyer financing all likely matter more than simple demand absence.

Quebec is more contained, though Montreal carries a meaningful multi-unit position. Montreal completed 367 detached homes and 849 multi-unit units, absorbing 76% of detached completions but only 41% of multi-unit completions. It ended with 265 unabsorbed detached homes and 1,656 unabsorbed multi-unit units. The multi-unit inventory life is 12.00 months, elevated but below the more stressed B.C. markets. Quebec City appears tighter, with 7.20 months of detached inventory and 4.33 months of multi-unit inventory. Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Saguenay also show shorter stock positions and lower absolute volumes.

Atlantic Canada remains smaller in scale, and most markets do not show the same inventory pressure. Moncton ended with 60 unabsorbed detached homes and 39 unabsorbed multi-unit units, equal to 5.23 months and 8.93 months of supply. Fredericton was at 5.73 months detached and 3.00 months multi-unit. Saint John carried only 1.70 months of detached inventory, while St. John’s was at 3.93 months. Halifax is the regional exception. It closed with 100 unabsorbed detached homes and 20 unabsorbed multi-unit units, and its detached inventory life reached 13.63 months. Its average detached price, about $721,523, is also higher than most Atlantic CMAs in the table.

The provincial read is practical rather than dramatic. B.C. is working through completed multi-unit stock in expensive markets. Alberta is absorbing large volumes, though Edmonton’s detached sales are occurring later in the cycle. Ontario’s concern is detached inventory life in several secondary and commuter markets, even where completion absorption remains strong. Quebec and Atlantic Canada look more contained, with Montreal and Halifax carrying the main pockets of pressure. For builders, the next decisions will likely be made less from national averages than from the local speed at which finished units become cash again.

Download the Absorption Q1 2026 Table

Tyler Holt is the Editor of Wood Industry / Le monde du bois magazine. He has a master’s degree in literature and publication, and years of experience in the publishing and digital media industry. His main area of study is the effect of digital technologies on industrial and networked production.