The Short Answer
In Markham, Ontario, a September listing competes against more inventory and fewer buyers than a spring listing, but the buyers who are looking are more serious. Markham's active listings peak in autumn, not spring, while September is consistently the slowest sales month of the season before October rebounds. Prices hold up better than most sellers expect: Markham's average sale price moved only about four to five percent between May and October in both 2024 and 2025. The practical difference is not price, it is competition. A September seller has to be sharper on preparation and pricing because the buyer has more to choose from.
Want this applied to your own property? Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885.
The Assumption Worth Retiring
Most sellers believe spring is when homes sell for more and fall is when they sell for less. The Markham data does not support that in the way people assume.
What actually changes between spring and fall is the ratio of listings to buyers. Spring brings a surge of both. Fall brings a smaller surge of buyers against an inventory pile that has been building since May and has not cleared.
Michael John Lau, a REALTORĀ® who prepares comparative market analyses for home sellers in Markham, Ontario, frames the September decision this way. You are not choosing between a higher price and a lower price. You are choosing between two different competitive environments, and each rewards a different strategy.
Questions About Your Situation?
Every Markham property and every timeline is different. Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885 and speak to a REALTORĀ® who works this market daily.
What the Markham Numbers Show
Month | Sales | Average price | New listings | Active listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 2024 | 283 | ~$1,293,000 | 645 | 759 |
September 2024 | 239 | ~$1,236,000 | 797 | 1,086 |
October 2024 | 317 | ~$1,228,000 | 702 | 1,023 |
May 2025 | 256 | ~$1,279,000 | 948 | 1,311 |
September 2025 | 260 | ~$1,177,000 | 794 | 1,249 |
October 2025 | 293 | ~$1,231,000 | 680 | 1,170 |
Figures reflect Toronto Regional Real Estate Board municipal data for Markham and are approximate. Three patterns hold across both years.
Active inventory peaks in the fall, not the spring
Markham carried 759 active listings in May 2024 and 1,086 by September. In 2025 it was 1,311 in May and still 1,249 in September. That is the single most important number for a fall seller. The competition is heavier, and it is heavier precisely when volume is lightest.
September is the trough, October is the rebound
Markham recorded 239 sales in September 2024 and 317 in October, a jump of roughly one third. In 2025 it was 260 in September and 293 in October. Buyers who spent the summer thinking about it come back after Labour Day, but they take a few weeks to move from browsing to offers.
Prices hold better than sellers fear
May 2024 to October 2024: about $1,293,000 down to $1,228,000, roughly five percent. May 2025 to October 2025: about $1,279,000 down to $1,231,000, roughly four percent. In a market where community averages range from under $1,000,000 to over $2,400,000, a four to five percent seasonal drift is small. It is not the reason a home sells or sits.
Selling This Fall? Price It for This Fall.
Spring comparables will not carry a September listing. The Kaizen Real Estate Team will price against the competition your buyer will actually see.
Neeraj Moolchandani on the Inventory Nobody Counts
Neeraj Moolchandani, REALTORĀ® at Kaizen Real Estate, points sellers at the number they tend to skip. Markham's active listing count peaks in the autumn, not the spring. A September seller competes against every home that failed to sell since May, much of it already repriced downward and sitting at an attractive number.
The correction Neeraj makes is to the comparable set. Sellers price against what sold. Buyers decide against what they can see on the same afternoon. In a fall market those two lists diverge considerably, and pricing to the first one while ignoring the second is how a listing spends its best two weeks getting nowhere.
Six Ways a September Listing Is Genuinely Different
1. The buyer is on a deadline
Spring buyers browse. Fall buyers are often working backward from a closing date they need before the holidays, a school year already started, a lease ending, or a rate hold expiring. A rate hold typically runs 90 to 120 days, which puts a September shopper on the clock. Fewer buyers, but a higher share of them intend to transact.
2. You inherit the summer's unsold inventory
A spring listing competes against other new listings. A September listing competes against new listings and everything that failed to sell since May, some of which has been repriced downward and is now sitting at an attractive number. Your comparable set is not just fresh homes.
3. The window is shorter
Spring has a long runway to the summer slowdown. Fall runs into a hard stop. Serious buyer activity thins through late November and effectively pauses from mid December to mid January. A September listing has roughly ten to twelve weeks. That argues for pricing correctly at launch rather than testing a number.
4. Photography gets harder, then better
Daylight shortens through the season, which compresses the window for exterior photos and evening showings. But fall colour flatters mature Markham streets like those in Unionville, Thornhill and Markham Village. Shoot early in the season and use the foliage.
5. The property tells the truth in the fall
Fall is when a home's weaknesses surface. Furnaces run for the first time. Drafty windows become obvious. Grading and drainage problems show up with autumn rain. Leaves reveal gutters. A seller who addresses these before listing avoids them becoming negotiating points after the home inspection.
6. Closing timelines shift
A September or October firm deal typically closes in November, December or January. That has practical consequences: moving in winter, holiday scheduling for lawyers and lenders, and a buyer who may want a longer close to align with their own sale. Flexibility on the closing date is worth more in the fall than it is in May.
What This Means for Your Pricing Strategy
The current market context matters. In August 2026, Markham recorded 282 sales at an average price of $1,208,692, with an average of 33 days on market and homes selling at 98 percent of list price. Active listings were down 10.7 percent from a year earlier while sales rose 17.5 percent, which made Markham tighter than it was heading into the previous two autumns.
That is a better setup for a fall seller than 2024 or 2025 offered. It does not change the fundamentals.
- Price to the sold evidence, not to spring's peak. A number that made sense in May is a number your fall competition has already undercut.
- Look at active competition, not just solds. With inventory elevated, what a buyer can see on the same day matters as much as what closed last month.
- Be ready before you launch. A ten to twelve week window does not accommodate a six week correction.
- Handle the seasonal items first. Furnace service, gutters, drainage, weather stripping. These become discount requests if a home inspector finds them.
- Consider the October effect. If your home is not ready in early September, listing in the first half of October puts you into the strongest sales month of the fall rather than the weakest.