Summer 2026 on the South Shore: What The Neighbours Did

225 homes changed hands on the shore this summer, down from 262 last summer. The middle of the market held at $439,900. The typical sale took 23 days, up from 18, and 41 homes sold over asking against 68 a year ago. Right now 366 homes are for sale, another 40 are under a conditional offer, 107 came on since August 1, and 179 of the 406 on the market have already cut their price at least once. If you are short on time, skip to the bottom.

St. Margarets Bay & Hubbards

44 sales, median $602,800, 19 days. Last summer 54 at $615,000.

Hubbards had the summer's fastest money: a 2008 waterfront on Yacht Club Road listed at $1.29 million and sold for $1.37 million in 12 days, and an 1876 farmhouse on two acres on Conrads Road went $70,000 over asking in a week. The big one was Sunnywood Road at the Head of the Bay, waterfront, listed last September at $2.495 million and closed at $1.99 million after 95 days.

For sale now: 66, median ask $807,000, 22 new since August, three of them waterfronts around a million in Black Point, Tantallon and Seabright. A 2024 waterfront build in Boutiliers Point is at 438 days and $3.495 million, down from $3.999.

Chester

50 sales, median $462,000, 19 days. Last summer 38 at $435,000, and time to sell more than doubled.

Nowhere else on the shore had a summer like the top of this market. Fredas Point Drive, a 1932 waterfront on 1.2 acres, listed at $5.85 million in March and closed at $5 million, the biggest sale on the shore this year. A 2023 build on three waterfront acres on Island Watch Run in Northwest Cove went for $4.2 million in six days. A 1932 house on King Street with no water at all brought $1.65 million in five days.

For sale now: 76, median ask $650,000, 22 new since August and none of them small: an 1840 house on 23 waterfront acres on Highway 3 in East Chester at $3.7 million, Seashore Lane in Blandford at $2.9 million, Victoria Street in the village at $2.2 million. Walker Cut, ten bedrooms on 19 acres, is asking $10 million.

Mahone Bay

20 sales, median $479,000, 25 days. Last summer 30 at $540,500. Two sold at or over asking.

A 1971 two-bedroom on 1.3 waterfront acres on Martins Point Road sold for $1.2 million after 61 days, and a waterfront condo on Main Street went for $999,000 from a $1.175 million ask. Main Street had four sales. The cut of the summer was Narrows Basin Road in Martins River: listed $899,900, sold $675,000.

For sale now: 36, median ask $845,000, sitting a median 102 days, the longest on the shore. Pending: Himmelman Lane on Hermans Island at $2.87 million. Hermans Point Road listed at $1.488 million in July 2025 and is now $999,900.

Lunenburg

16 sales, median $542,500, 37 days. Last summer 25 at $585,000. Nothing over a million, nothing in under four days.

The top sale had no water: a 1940 two-bedroom on Herring Rock Road in Blue Rocks, $880,000 in 30 days. A 2022 five-bedroom on Harbour View Drive listed at $795,000 and sold for $820,000 in a week. The 1766 house on Blue Rocks Road in Garden Lots closed at $575,000, down from $745,000 in January.

For sale now: 52, median ask $697,000. Kingsburg is where the money is listing: Middle Road at $2.9 million and Kingsburg Road at $2.1 million, both waterfront, both this month. The 1873 house on Montague Street has been for sale since May 2025, now $1.05 million from $1.225.

Bridgewater

67 sales, median $375,000, 19 days. Twelve sold in three days or less, 14 over asking. The tightest supply on the shore.

Deer Run in Conquerall Mills, a 2003 waterfront five-bedroom, went for $1.36 million in four days. In town, a 1954 three-bedroom on Walnut Street listed at $379,900 and sold at $459,000 in five days. The other side: a house on Highway 3 in Hebbville sat a full year and went from $515,000 to $400,000.

For sale now: 90, median ask $449,000, 31 new since August and 13 under conditional offer, the most on the shore for both. New: 141 waterfront acres on Frank Road in Italy Cross at $810,000, and the cheapest new listing anywhere on the shore, a 1930 house on nine acres in Middlewood at $129,000.

Liverpool & South Queens

28 sales, median $274,000, 40 days. Last summer 34 at $299,950.

The top sale was a waterfront on Highway 3 in Hunts Point: listed in November at $799,000, sold at $725,000 after 203 days. Old Meeting House Road in Beach Meadows listed at $143,000 and sold at $169,570 in two days. Long Cove Road in Port Medway had three sales, including an 1861 five-bedroom that took 333 days to go from $140,000 to $95,000.

For sale now: 86, median ask $405,000, median 95 days, and half have already cut. New: a waterfront on Southwest Cove Road in Port Medway at $769,900. River Head Road in Port Mouton is at 882 days, $479,900, never cut.

The bottom line, area by area

Sales: 225 (down from 262 last summer)

Median: $439,900 (held, $445,625 last year)

Days to sell: 23 (up from 18)

Months of supply: 5.4, Balanced (406 on the market, 179 already cut)

Months of supply = homes on the market on September 8 divided by the summer sales pace. Under 4 months is a sellers' market, 4 to 6 is balanced, over 6 is a buyers' market.

St. Margarets Bay & Hubbards: Balanced | 4.5 months of supply · 44 sales · $602,800 · 19 days | Firm for the shore. Waterfront under $1.4 million goes in a week or two; the rest is priced to sit.

Chester: Balanced | 4.6 months of supply · 50 sales · $462,000 · 19 days | Two markets. The top end had the summer of the year; everything else took twice as long as last year. Price the water with confidence, the rest carefully.

Mahone Bay: Balanced | 5.4 months of supply · 20 sales · $479,000 · 25 days | Balanced on paper, slow in practice. What is for sale has sat a median 102 days, the longest on the shore. Price to the last sale, not the neighbour's ask.

Lunenburg: Buyers' market | 9.8 months of supply · 16 sales · $542,500 · 37 days | Slow and selective. Nothing over a million. The one priced right sold over asking in a week; the rest waited.

Bridgewater: Balanced | 4.0 months of supply · 67 sales · $375,000 · 19 days | On the sellers' side of balanced, and the busiest market on the shore: 14 over asking, twelve gone in three days or less.

Liverpool & South Queens: Buyers' market | 9.2 months of supply · 28 sales · $274,000 · 40 days | Half of what is for sale has already cut. Buyers can take their time; sellers should not.

If you are selling: price to what closed on your road this summer, not to the sign next door. Every cut is on the listing history for every buyer to see. In Bridgewater and St. Margarets Bay a well-priced home still goes in days. In Lunenburg and Liverpool, with nine months of supply, price sharp on day one.

If you are buying: Lunenburg and Liverpool have the supply to negotiate, and anything past 90 days is a conversation anywhere on the shore. In Bridgewater and St. Margarets Bay, if you like it, move.

If you want the numbers for your own road or a price band, call or text and I'll pull them.

Questions people ask

What was the median sale price on the South Shore this summer?

$439,900 across 225 residential sales that closed June 1 to August 31, 2026, from Peggy's Cove to Liverpool. Last summer it was $445,625 on 262 sales.

How long does a house take to sell on the South Shore right now?

The typical summer sale went under contract in 23 days, up from 18 last summer. Bridgewater and St. Margarets Bay ran 19 days; Lunenburg 37; Liverpool 40.

Where are homes selling fastest?

Bridgewater. Twelve of its 67 summer sales went in three days or less and 14 sold over asking, and it has the tightest supply on the shore at four months.

How many homes are for sale on the South Shore?

366 active listings on September 8, 2026, plus 40 under conditional offer. 179 of the 406 have cut their price at least once. Median asking price is $552,400 against a median summer sale of $439,900.

Residential sales closed June 1 to August 31, 2026 and 2025, and active listings as of September 8, from the NSAR MLS®. Sale prices are public record in Nova Scotia through the provincial Land Registry. Medians, not averages. No house numbers; each area is the same group of communities as its page on this site.

Written by Doug Mills, REALTOR® with Royal LePage Atlantic. I help out-of-province and overseas buyers purchase along Nova Scotia's South Shore.