Benchmark price
Also called MLS Home Price Index, HPI, typical home price
The benchmark price is what a typical home in an area would sell for, estimated by the MLS Home Price Index (HPI) from the homes that sold. The index prices a representative home of set size, lot, age, rooms and location month after month, so unlike an average it does not move when the mix of homes sold changes.
By the HousingPortal.ca team · Data: each board's latest report · Updated
How it is worked out
The HPI, run by CREA with the boards, describes a benchmark home for each area and property type (composite, single-family detached, single-family attached, townhouse and apartment) and estimates what it would sell for each month from the sales recorded. The result is published as an index (January 2005 = 100) and as the benchmark price in dollars. Because the home is held constant, a change in the benchmark is a change in prices, not in what happened to sell.
The model is re-estimated from time to time, which revises past benchmarks; Ottawa's were restated in November 2025. A benchmark can also lag a sudden turn in the market by a month or two, since it is smoothed.
Benchmark or average?
An average swings with the mix: a month of expensive detached sales lifts it although no home became dearer. The benchmark answers "what is a typical home worth now?"; the average answers "what did buyers pay this month?". The two sit at different levels, usually with the benchmark below the average, because a few very expensive sales pull the average up but not the benchmark.
TRREB, Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa publish HPI benchmarks and our pages show them beside the average where both exist. Greater Vancouver's area pages lead with the benchmark, since the board publishes no average below the region.
Benchmark price in each market now
Across the 6 markets whose boards publish it, it runs from $423,100 in Edmonton to $1,075,900 in Greater Vancouver.
| Market | Figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Toronto Area | $917,600 | $1,006,409 average |
| Ottawa | $623,500 | $685,640 average |
| Greater Vancouver | $1,075,900 | $1,225,426 average |
| Nova Scotia | $423,200 | $463,312 average |
| Edmonton | $423,100 | $466,080 average |
| Calgary | $566,700 | $646,198 average |
Figures for September 2026, as each board publishes them; the market pages have the area-by-area figures. Markets whose board does not publish this measure are not listed.
Benchmark price: Quick Answers
Why is the benchmark price lower than the average price?
Because the average is pulled up by the most expensive sales while the benchmark describes the typical home. In a market where a tenth of sales are over $2 million and the typical home is $900,000, the average lands well above the benchmark. The gap widens when expensive homes make up more of the month's sales.
Is the benchmark price the same as the median?
No. The median is the middle sale of the month, so half sold for more and half for less; it still depends on which homes sold. The benchmark holds the home constant and prices it, so it compares like with like from one month to the next.
Related terms and pages
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