A $289,914 example
Caivan's Summit Series at Magnolia development contains 248 new homes, including multi-bedroom townhomes starting at $289,914. Frank Cairo, co-founder and CEO of Caivan Group, said homes at that price point are accessible to households earning $67,000 a year, a income level well within reach for many Ottawa workers.
That price stands in sharp contrast to the broader market. According to the Ottawa Real Estate Board, the average selling price for a townhome in Ottawa was $543,061 as of July 2026, an 81 per cent increase over the past decade. The overall average price of a residential home in Ottawa currently sits at $683,308, OREB figures show.
Townhomes carry the market
Jason Burggraaf, executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association, said townhomes have been the biggest type of house built in Ottawa during his entire time at the association. That means the price of a townhome isn't just a niche concern, it's the benchmark a huge share of Ottawa buyers are watching most closely as they try to get into the market.
How builders are cutting costs
Paul Kealey, co-founder and president of Ekobuilt, said his company has reduced costs by as much as 25 per cent compared to two or three years ago, largely by focusing on volume. Building more units at once lets developers spread fixed costs, like land servicing and design work, across a larger number of homes, bringing the per-unit price down.
Government relief is also playing a role. The province temporarily expanded HST relief on new homes, letting homebuyers who purchase before April 2027 save up to $130,000. At the same time, the province introduced an initiative to reduce municipal development charges, another major cost that gets baked into the final sale price of a new build.
What it means for Ottawa buyers
For Ottawa residents priced out of the resale market, where the average home now runs well over $680,000, developments like Summit Series at Magnolia offer a rare entry point. Whether other builders can replicate that pricing at scale will depend on how many of them adopt the volume-focused model Kealey described, and how long the province's HST relief and development charge incentives remain in place.
Earlier this month
The pricing conversation follows ottown's earlier report on a roundtable where Ottawa homebuilders discussed the pressures facing the city's construction sector, and comes after ottown's earlier report on a spring surge in new home sales that suggested renewed buyer confidence in the capital's housing market.
Sources: Ottawa Business Journal
