The first thing to know is that the days-on-market averages exclude you. TRREB defines Average Listing Days on Market as the average for sold listings and Average Property Days on Market as the days before selling — an unsold listing counts in neither. In July 2026 the GTA figures were LDOM 32 and PDOM 45, a thirteen-day gap that is the published evidence of relisting at scale. On getting out: your agreement is with the brokerage, suspending leaves the contract in force so you cannot relist elsewhere, cancelling releases you but leaves the holdover alive, and RECO states the brokerage is “typically under no obligation to release you” early. The OREA Form 200 pre-set text contains no termination clause at all, and the holdover period is a blank — RECO says there is “no minimum or set time” for it.
Your house has been listed for weeks. The showings have thinned out. Nobody has written an offer, and the advice you are getting has narrowed to one word: reduce. Before you do that, there are four things worth knowing, and the first one is that the numbers everybody keeps quoting at you systematically exclude you.
1. The days-on-market average does not include unsold homes
TRREB reports two measures every month and defines them in note 5 of the Market Watch:
“Average Listing Days on Market (Avg. LDOM) refers to the average number of days sold listings were on the market. Average Property Days on Market (Avg. PDOM) refers to the average number of days a property was on the market before selling, irrespective of whether the property was listed more than once by the same combination of seller and brokerage during the original listing contract period.”
Both measures are averages over properties that sold. A listing that has not sold contributes to neither number. So when someone tells you the average home in your area sells in thirty-two days and yours has been out for sixty, they are comparing you to a population you are not in. The published averages exclude, by construction, the exact situation you are in.
The gap between the two numbers is the story
| Measure — All TRREB areas, July 2026 | Figure | A year earlier | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Listing Days on Market | 32 | 30 | +6.7% |
| Average Property Days on Market | 45 | 40 | +12.5% |
| Gap between them | 13 days | 10 days | — |
PDOM sits thirteen days above LDOM and is rising faster. That gap is the only published, unarguable evidence in the whole report that relisting is happening at scale — because LDOM restarts on a new listing record and PDOM, within its stated conditions, does not.
Read TRREB’s condition carefully, because it is narrower than people assume. PDOM ignores a relist only where the property was listed more than once by the same combination of seller and brokerage during the original listing contract period. All three elements are conjunctive. TRREB’s note does not say PDOM survives a change of brokerage, a relist after the original contract period ended, or a change in the seller of record. It does not address those at all. So even PDOM is a floor, not a complete history.
I searched the PropTx MLS Rules — the operative rules for TRREB listings, effective 2 December 2024 — for any rule governing days on market. The phrase does not appear in the document. There is no published rule about what resets and what does not. The Market Watch footnote is the only published statement that exists.
2. What the market is actually doing, so you can locate yourself in it
Everything below is from the TRREB Market Watch for July 2026, released 6 August 2026.
| Measure — GTA, July 2026 | Figure | Year over year |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 5,995 | −0.9% |
| New listings | 14,484 | −17.8% |
| Active listings | 26,098 | −12.1% |
| Average price | $1,003,956 | −4.5% |
| Median price | $860,000 | — |
| MLS Home Price Index composite | — | −4.6% |
| Average sale price to list price | 97% | — |
| Months of inventory (trend) | 4.6 | — |
| Sales to new listings ratio (trend) | 37.1% | — |
Two things in that table deserve more attention than they usually get. New listings fell nearly eighteen per cent year over year, which means the competition you are facing is smaller than it was — and yet the average sale is still landing at ninety-seven per cent of asking. Both of those are facts about pricing, not about marketing.
Toronto West, by district
| District | Sales | Avg price | Median | SP/LP | LDOM | PDOM | Months inv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto West (W01–W10) | 568 | $942,284 | $831,900 | 98% | 31 | 35 | 4.3 |
| W01 | 32 | $1,077,563 | $763,750 | 100% | 29 | 33 | 4.0 |
| W02 | 58 | $1,113,301 | $1,040,000 | 100% | 20 | 25 | 2.7 |
| W03 | 43 | $844,088 | $806,000 | 99% | 26 | 32 | 3.5 |
| W04 | 53 | $803,370 | $773,500 | 99% | 30 | 33 | 5.5 |
| W05 | 82 | $790,781 | $820,000 | 98% | 37 | 41 | 5.4 |
| W06 | 88 | $939,558 | $850,000 | 96% | 31 | 40 | 4.6 |
| W07 | 16 | $1,029,500 | $972,000 | 99% | 22 | 35 | 3.8 |
| W08 | 119 | $1,086,767 | $825,000 | 97% | 33 | 36 | 4.2 |
| W09 | 34 | $906,518 | $862,500 | 96% | 35 | 38 | 4.2 |
| W10 | 43 | $770,823 | $767,000 | 99% | 32 | 34 | 5.4 |
Look at W08. Average $1,086,767, median $825,000 — a thirty-two per cent gap. That is not a market signal, it is a composition signal: a handful of expensive detached sales pulling an average that includes condominiums. If your agent is pricing your property off a district average, ask which number they used and why. The median is closer to the middle of the market and neither is a substitute for comparables on your street.
TRREB publishes LDOM, PDOM and sale-to-list side by side every month but publishes no analysis linking them. I looked for a Canadian study relating days on market to final price and found none from any primary source. The frequently cited one is a dead link. So I am not going to give you a rule of thumb about what each additional week costs you. Nobody has published one.
3. Before you blame the marketing, check the offer strategy
RECO publishes agent-facing guidance on delayed offer presentation — the offer date. Among the risks it lists, in its own words:
“Strategy doesn’t generate offers: The offer date could pass without any offers, which might make the property less desirable, appear overpriced and remain on the market longer than expected.”
That is the regulator, in its own published bulletin, naming the exact failure you are living through — including the words “appear overpriced” and “remain on the market longer than expected.” If your listing ran an offer date that passed without offers, the problem is diagnosed and it is not your kitchen.
RECO also notes the other two risks: buyers who do not want to wait, and buyers who are simply averse to the process. And it is clear that you can change course — “A seller may change their instructions by issuing a new written direction” — though it should follow advice on the benefits and risks of doing so.
Pre-emptive offers
RECO Bulletin 4.3 states that a seller’s representative must have written direction on how to handle pre-emptive offers, and that “a seller’s agent must convey an offer to the seller as soon as possible after receiving it. The only exception to this requirement is if the client… has given clear and detailed written direction to do otherwise.” RECO is explicit that a general note in the listing remarks is not sufficient direction.
If you set an offer date and offers were turned away before it, ask to see the written direction that authorised that. It should exist.
4. Getting out of the listing: suspend, cancel, or neither
Start with the fact that decides everything else, in RECO’s words: “your listing agreement is with the brokerage and not with your individual salesperson or broker.”
| Option | What RECO says it does |
|---|---|
| Suspend | “the brokerage will stop marketing your home. But, the original terms of the contract will still be in effect. That means you will continue to be bound to the original agreement and could not, for example, re-list your home with a different brokerage during the remainder of the contract.” |
| Cancel | “you are released from your contract. However, there may be conditions where certain terms of the canceled agreement still apply” — RECO’s example is a private sale to someone introduced during the term or the holdover period |
| Change the designated representative | Under a designated representation agreement, “the brokerage cannot appoint a different designated representative unless you agree” — which cuts both ways and is a live option if the problem is the individual rather than the brokerage |
The sentence sellers do not expect: “Depending, as always, on the specific terms of your listing contract, the brokerage will typically be under no obligation to release you from your listing early, before the expiry date as originally agreed.” That is RECO. A cancellation is something the brokerage agrees to, not something you can demand.
And here is why that matters more than it should: I read all fifteen numbered clauses in the pre-set portion of the OREA standard Listing Agreement, Form 200, revised 2025. There is no termination clause. No early termination right for either party, no notice period, no cancellation fee provision. The word “terminated” appears once, incidentally, inside the privacy consent clause.
That is exactly why RECO advises consumers that “the agreement should list all circumstances when the agreement can be terminated.” The pre-set form does not list any. Any termination right has to be written into a schedule, and clause 13 provides that an added provision supersedes the pre-set text where they conflict. If you want an exit, it goes in before you sign.
The holdover clause, and the number that is not a standard
RECO’s Information Guide — the document a registrant must give you under TRESA — says this:
“A holdover clause is designed to protect the brokerage, and there is no minimum or set time for a holdover period.”
The guide then works an example using thirty days, introduced as “let’s say”. RECO’s Ask Joe column does the same, introducing it as “For explanation purposes”. That thirty is an illustration. It is not a standard, not a default and not a maximum.
The OREA form confirms it. Clause 2 reads: the seller agrees to pay commission if an agreement is accepted “within ……………………….. days after the expiration of the Listing Period (Holdover Period)”. The number is a blank. There is no printed default anywhere on the form. It is whatever was typed in, and RECO says plainly: “you are free to negotiate the terms of a holdover clause.”
One relief worth knowing. The same clause continues: if the sale is under a new written agreement to pay commission to another brokerage, “the Seller’s liability for commission shall be reduced by the amount paid by the Seller under the new agreement.” It reduces. It does not necessarily eliminate.
And a private sale during holdover is not invisible: PropTx Rule 4.03 requires that “any sale during the holdover period shall be Reported to the Association by 11:59 p.m. the next Business Day.”
What the MLS rules actually require
| Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|
| 3.21 | The listing brokerage must update the MLS System “no later than 11:59 p.m. the next Business Day following any amendment to the MLS Listing Agreement” — so a price change should appear within one business day |
| 3.16 | A listing that “becomes unavailable for showings, inspections or registration of Offers” shall be suspended, and requests received during suspension must be recorded |
| 4.02 | Members may not avoid reporting obligations “by, for example, cancelling an MLS Listing between receipt (or anticipated receipt) and acceptance of an Offer, or encouraging a Seller to do so” |
| 5.03 | A sign must be removed promptly where a listing “is expired, terminated, or suspended” |
| 3.01 | Members are responsible for the accuracy of all listing information and “must immediately correct any inaccuracy” |
5. The thing that quietly kills deals: what you have to disclose
RECO Bulletin 7.4 opens with a point most sellers have never been told: “The seller’s obligation to disclose and the facts or defects they must disclose are based on current case law, not TRESA.”
| Definition (RECO) | Must you disclose_ | |
|---|---|---|
| Patent defect | “one that can be detected by a potential home buyer or their home inspector by reasonable observation and inquiry” | No — but “a seller should not attempt to conceal the patent defect or ‘buyer beware’ may not apply” |
| Latent defect | “one that would make a property unfit for habitation, dangerous, or potentially dangerous, and is generally not apparent to someone exercising reasonable care” | Yes. RECO adds that a seller may be liable even without direct knowledge if they were “willfully blind” |
| Stigma | “a non-physical, intangible attribute of a property that may elicit a psychological or emotional response” | “Stigmas are not explicitly addressed in the legislation” — RECO directs the agent to obtain legal advice and written instructions |
RECO says a latent defect “might face litigation when the buyer discovers the latent defect after the sale closes, or it could jeopardize the transaction before it is completed.” If your deals keep falling apart at the inspection stage rather than never starting, that sentence is where I would look first.
Do not conflate a latent defect with a stigma. One must be disclosed. The other is not addressed in the legislation at all, is not defined in it, and RECO’s guidance is to get legal advice and written instructions rather than to assume a duty either way. Since the disclosure duty comes from case law rather than statute, and I do not publish case law I have not read, the specific authorities are a question for your lawyer.
What I would check, in order
- Pull the property’s full listing history, not the current listing. How many times has it been listed, at what prices, and over what period. LDOM restarts on a new record and PDOM only bridges relists within TRREB’s stated conditions, so neither number on the screen is a complete history.
- Compare against the median as well as the average, and against actual comparables rather than a district figure. W08 in July 2026 had a thirty-two per cent gap between the two.
- Ask what the offer strategy was. If an offer date passed without offers, RECO’s own bulletin says that is a known failure mode that makes a property appear overpriced.
- Ask when the last price change was entered. Rule 3.21 requires the system to be updated by 11:59 p.m. the next business day after any amendment.
- Read your holdover clause and your listing period. Both are blanks on the OREA form. Whatever numbers are in yours were negotiated, whether or not anyone told you that at the time.
- Before you cancel, ask whether the problem is the brokerage or the person. Under a designated representation agreement the brokerage cannot change your designated representative without your agreement — and you can raise the same question in the other direction.
- If deals keep collapsing rather than never starting, get legal advice on disclosure. RECO warns that a latent defect can jeopardise a transaction before completion.
What is not on this page
No rule of thumb about what each week on market costs you, because no primary source publishes one. No case law, because the seller disclosure duty comes from decisions I have not read. And no claim about what happens to a listing’s visible history on a relist beyond TRREB’s own footnote, because the MLS rules do not address it.
Listed in Etobicoke or the GTA and getting no offers?
Send me the address and I will pull the full listing history — every prior campaign, every price, every relist — alongside the actual sold comparables and what your listing agreement commits you to. I will tell you plainly whether this is a price problem, a strategy problem or a disclosure problem, and I will tell you if the honest answer is to wait. No cost and no obligation, and no pitch to relist with me.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to sell a house in the GTA?
In July 2026 TRREB reported an average Listing Days on Market of 32 and an average Property Days on Market of 45 across all TRREB areas. But read the definitions before you use those numbers: both are averages across listings that sold. A property that has not sold contributes to neither figure, so the published averages systematically exclude the situation a seller with an unsold home is actually in.
What is the difference between LDOM and PDOM?
TRREB defines Average Listing Days on Market as the average number of days sold listings were on the market, and Average Property Days on Market as the average days a property was on the market before selling, irrespective of whether it was listed more than once by the same combination of seller and brokerage during the original listing contract period. LDOM attaches to the listing record, so a new listing starts it again. PDOM bridges a relist, but only where all three of TRREB’s stated conditions are met.
Does relisting reset the days on market?
Listing Days on Market attaches to the listing record, so a new record starts a new count. Property Days on Market is defined to look past a relist, but only where the property was listed more than once by the same combination of seller and brokerage during the original listing contract period. TRREB’s note does not address a relist after that period ends, a change of brokerage, or a change in the seller of record. There is no rule in the PropTx MLS Rules addressing days on market at all.
Can I cancel my listing agreement early?
Only if the brokerage agrees. RECO states that “depending, as always, on the specific terms of your listing contract, the brokerage will typically be under no obligation to release you from your listing early, before the expiry date as originally agreed.” The pre-set portion of OREA Form 200, revised 2025, contains no termination clause at all across its fifteen numbered clauses, which is why RECO advises consumers that the agreement should list the circumstances in which it can be terminated. Any early exit has to be written into a schedule before signing.
What is the difference between suspending and cancelling a listing?
RECO puts it this way. If the listing is suspended, “the brokerage will stop marketing your home. But, the original terms of the contract will still be in effect. That means you will continue to be bound to the original agreement and could not, for example, re-list your home with a different brokerage during the remainder of the contract.” If the brokerage agrees to cancel, “you are released from your contract” — though certain terms, notably the holdover, may still apply.
Is there a standard holdover period in Ontario?
No. The RECO Information Guide, which a registrant is required to give you under TRESA, states that “a holdover clause is designed to protect the brokerage, and there is no minimum or set time for a holdover period.” The thirty days that appears in RECO’s material is expressly introduced as a worked example. On OREA Form 200 the holdover period is a blank in clause 2 with no printed default. RECO also states that you are free to negotiate its terms.
If I sell privately during the holdover, does the brokerage still get paid?
It may. RECO’s position is that if the buyer viewed, enquired about or was otherwise introduced to the property by or through the brokerage during the listing, commission may be payable, and that this can extend to someone who attended an open house or responded to the brokerage’s promotional material. Where the buyer never expressed interest and never attended, RECO says the holdover would not likely apply. OREA Form 200 also reduces the seller’s liability by any commission paid under a new agreement with another brokerage, which reduces rather than eliminates the exposure. And PropTx Rule 4.03 requires any sale during the holdover period to be reported to the association by 11:59 p.m. the next business day.
Did the offer date cause my listing to stall?
It might have, and RECO says so in its own words. Bulletin 4.2, effective 1 December 2023, lists among the risks of a delayed offer presentation process that the strategy may not generate offers, so that “the offer date could pass without any offers, which might make the property less desirable, appear overpriced and remain on the market longer than expected.” RECO also notes that a seller may change their instructions by issuing a new written direction.
How quickly does a price change have to appear on the system?
PropTx Rule 3.21 requires the listing brokerage to update the MLS System no later than 11:59 p.m. the next business day following any amendment to the MLS listing agreement. Business day is defined as excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Ontario statutory holidays.
Do I have to disclose problems with the house?
You must disclose latent defects. RECO defines a latent defect as one that would make a property unfit for habitation, dangerous or potentially dangerous, and which is generally not apparent to someone exercising reasonable care in the inspection. A patent defect, which reasonable observation and inquiry would detect, need not be disclosed, but RECO warns that a seller should not attempt to conceal it or buyer beware may not apply. RECO also states that a seller may be liable for a latent defect even without direct knowledge if they were wilfully blind. Note that this duty comes from case law rather than from TRESA, so the specific authorities are a question for a lawyer.
Does a longer time on market mean I will get less for the house?
Nobody has published an answer I can stand behind. TRREB publishes days on market and sale-to-list price side by side every month but publishes no analysis linking them. I looked for a Canadian study relating the two and found none from any primary source; the study most often cited is a dead link. So I am not going to give you a rule of thumb about what each additional week costs. What is published is that the GTA average sale in July 2026 landed at 97 per cent of asking.
Related reading
- Your agent will not cancel the agreement: what Ontario law actually lets you do
- Seller disclosure in Ontario: latent defects, patent defects and stigma
- Toronto West market report, July 2026
- No equity in your house? What happens when the sale will not cover the mortgage
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these, and each was read on 1 September 2026. Primary sources only — statute, regulation, and the government or agency that administers the rule. Where I could not verify something from a primary source, the page says so instead of guessing.
- Market Watch, July 2026 (PDF) — Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, released 6 August 2026. Page 27, note 5, defines Average Listing Days on Market and Average Property Days on Market. Reports 5,995 GTA sales, 14,484 new listings, 26,098 active listings, average price $1,003,956, median $860,000, average sale-to-list 97 per cent, average LDOM 32 and average PDOM 45, with the City of Toronto and Toronto West district breakdown on page 4. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- What is the difference between suspending and cancelling my listing agreement_ — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, no publication date shown on the page. States that a suspended listing stops marketing but leaves the original contract terms in effect so the seller cannot relist elsewhere during the term, that a cancellation releases the seller subject to surviving terms, and that a brokerage is typically under no obligation to release a seller early. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- RECO Information Guide, residential, print version (PDF). Real Estate Council of Ontario. Content dated 1 December 2023, graphics September 2025. The guide a registrant must deliver to a consumer under TRESA. States that a holdover clause is designed to protect the brokerage and that there is no minimum or set time for a holdover period, and sets out the multiple representation disclosure and consent requirements. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- What should we know about the holdover clause within our agreement_ — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, by Registrar Joseph Richer, no publication date shown. Uses a thirty-day holdover as an explanatory example only, explains when commission may follow a private sale, and states that a seller is free to negotiate the terms of a holdover clause. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- OREA Form 200, Listing Agreement / Seller Representation Agreement, revised 2025. Ontario Real Estate Association standard form, revision year 2025 as printed in the form footer, read from a licensee-reproduced copy. The holdover period in clause 2 is a blank for the parties to complete with no printed default. The listing period is likewise blank and the form records that its length is negotiable. The fifteen numbered pre-set clauses contain no termination clause. OREA does not publish its forms publicly, so verify against a current licensee copy. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- PropTx MLS Rules, effective 2 December 2024 (PDF). PropTx, which operates the MLS System on which TRREB listings reside. Rule 3.21 requires the system to be updated by 11:59 p.m. the next business day after any amendment. Rule 3.16 requires suspension where a listing becomes unavailable for showings. Rule 4.02 prohibits cancelling a listing to avoid reporting an offer. Rule 4.03 requires holdover-period sales to be reported. The document contains no rule addressing days on market. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Bulletin 4.2, Managing a delayed offer presentation process (PDF) — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, effective 1 December 2023. Agent-facing guidance. Lists among the risks of a delayed offer date that the date could pass without any offers, which might make the property less desirable, appear overpriced and remain on the market longer than expected. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Bulletin 4.3, Managing a pre-emptive offer (PDF) — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, effective 1 December 2023. States that a seller’s representative must have written direction on how to manage pre-emptive offers, and that an offer must be conveyed to the seller as soon as possible unless clear and detailed written direction says otherwise. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Bulletin 7.4, Facts a seller has a legal obligation to disclose (PDF) — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, effective 1 December 2023. States that the seller’s obligation to disclose is based on current case law rather than TRESA, defines patent and latent defects, and notes that an undisclosed latent defect could jeopardise a transaction before it is completed. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Bulletin 7.5, Stigmas (PDF) — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, effective 1 December 2023. States that stigmas are not explicitly addressed in the legislation and not defined in it, gives examples, and directs a seller’s agent to obtain legal advice and written instructions rather than asserting a disclosure duty. Accessed 1 September 2026.
- Bulletin 3.2, Multiple representation (PDF) — RECO. Real Estate Council of Ontario, effective 1 December 2023. States that in multiple representation none of the clients are fully represented, that the brokerage can no longer advocate for a client’s best interests, and that clients receive no advice on the price they should offer or accept. Accessed 1 September 2026.
About the author — Jatin Dua, Etobicoke real estate agent
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke. I write these pages the same way I work a file: read the primary source, quote it, date it, and say plainly where the source is silent or where two sources disagree. If a figure on this page has no citation beside it, that is a mistake and I want to hear about it.
I work with buyers, sellers, renters and investors across Etobicoke, Mimico, Humber Bay Shores, New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood and Stonegate–Queensway. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.