TL;DR
The Calgary housing market has split into two very different stories. Detached and luxury homes hold their value with tight supply, while apartment condos face a real correction. Sellers and buyers therefore need segment-level numbers, since the citywide average now describes almost nobody's actual situation.
What is Calgary's market doing right now?
Activity has cooled, yet prices have held steadier than the sales numbers suggest. July brought 1,904 residential sales, down 9% from a year earlier.
New listings fell faster than sales, dropping 15% year over year to 3,323 units. That detail matters more than most headlines admit. When supply retreats alongside demand, prices tend to drift rather than drop. Accordingly, the sales-to-new-listings ratio landed at 57%, which sits squarely in neutral territory.
Months of supply rose to roughly three and a half across the city. In practical terms, that number describes a balanced market where neither side holds much leverage. Still, I would caution any client against acting on that figure alone. The citywide benchmark price of $569,200 slipped about 2% from last year. Notably, that single number blends three segments behaving in three different ways.
Which property types are moving, and which are stalling?
Detached homes remain tight, townhouses sit in balance, and apartments face genuine oversupply. The gap between them keeps widening.
| Property type | Benchmark price | Months of supply | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $743,900 | About 3 | Seller's market |
| Row and townhouse | Mid-range | About 4 | Balanced |
| Apartment condo | $297,600 | About 5 | Buyer's market |
Apartments carry the heaviest pressure. Specifically, the benchmark has fallen 8% year over year and sits roughly 13% below the 2024 peak. Several years of heavy construction created that overhang, and it will take time to clear. Consequently, condo buyers now enjoy negotiating room that did not exist two years ago.
Detached homes tell the opposite story. The benchmark eased only about 2% while supply stayed near three months, which keeps competition alive for well-presented homes. Geography sharpens the contrast further. In particular, the North and North East districts carry more inventory and softer pricing, while established inner-city and west-side neighbourhoods continue to hold firm.
Buyers feel the difference on the ground. For example, a condo shopper downtown can view eight comparable units and negotiate on all of them. Meanwhile, a family hunting a detached home in an established inner-city neighbourhood may see two suitable listings in a month. Similarly, that scarcity keeps prices firm even as the citywide figure drifts lower.
What is driving the split?
Two forces explain most of it: a wave of new apartment supply and a sharp slowdown in population growth. Together they hit the condo segment hardest.
Developers responded to the last cycle with several years of record housing starts, and much of that product arrived as apartment-style units. Meanwhile, demand moved the other way. Alberta added a net 5,358 people in the first quarter of 2026, roughly 70% fewer than the same quarter of 2025.
The composition of that change matters even more. Net international immigration subtracted 648 people from Alberta in the first quarter, compared with a gain of 11,176 a year earlier. Interprovincial migration stayed positive at 6,006, though that figure also slipped about 10% year over year. New arrivals have historically filled condo units first, so the Calgary housing market feels the shift in that segment before anywhere else.
Detached homes escaped most of the damage. Builders cannot add inner-city land, and established neighbourhoods release inventory slowly. Hence the supply that softened the condo market never reached the detached market at the same scale.
The bottom of the market shows its own kind of strength. Homes priced under $600,000 continue to attract first-time buyers hunting for anything affordable. As a result, the squeeze lands hardest in the middle, where stress-test limits and higher payments overlap.
Why are luxury sales rising while the broader market cools?
High-end buyers respond to different pressures than the middle of the market. Rates and stress tests bite hardest on mid-range borrowers, while top-end buyers absorb them.
Calgary moved opposite its peers. Luxury sales above $1.5 million rose 13.5% over the first four months of 2026, with 218 transactions. Meanwhile, Greater Vancouver saw luxury sales fall 19.8% and Greater Toronto fell 16.9% over the same stretch. Calgary now attracts high-net-worth buyers who compare our prices against those cities and see room to breathe.
Momentum shows up in pace as well as volume. Across January and February, the average luxury sale price reached $1.59 million, up 8.9% from a year earlier. Median days on market dropped to 16.8, a 56% improvement. Furthermore, the sale-to-list ratio climbed to 99.5%, and 29.6% of luxury homes sold above asking. I broke down why luxury homes clear asking in more detail earlier this year.
February stood out in particular. The average luxury sale price hit $1.75 million, the strongest monthly figure in two years, and the sale-to-list ratio pushed past 100%. The typical luxury buyer paid above asking that month.
What kind of luxury property is actually selling?
Detached homes dominate the premium segment. Attached product barely registers above $1.5 million.
CREB data from April shows the pattern. Of 74 luxury sales above $1.5 million, 69 involved detached homes. Specifically, 42 sold between $1.5 million and $1.999 million, while 27 crossed $2 million. Apartments, semi-detached, and row homes combined for five sales in total.
Year-to-date figures point the same direction, with 198 detached luxury sales through April against 179 in the same window last year. Buyers at this level want space, privacy, and the freedom to renovate to their own taste. Likewise, they treat a well-located lot as the part of the purchase that cannot be replaced. I see that preference on nearly every showing I run in the $2.5 million and above range.
What does this mean if you are selling?
Your segment decides your strategy far more than the market headline does. Price and prepare against comparable homes in your own band.
- Detached owners: You still hold a reasonable position, particularly in inner-city and west-side neighbourhoods. Presentation and pricing discipline matter, since buyers compare carefully.
- Luxury owners: Momentum favours you right now. Homes that present well are moving in under three weeks, and a meaningful share clear asking price.
- Condo owners: Expect a longer runway. Price to the current market rather than to 2024, and consider timing your sale around your next purchase.
- Everyone: Ask for segment-level data before you set a price. A citywide average will mislead you in either direction.
I start every listing conversation with a current home evaluation built on comparable sales in your specific band and neighbourhood, rather than on a broad city figure.
Timing deserves thought too. Sellers who need to buy again in the same segment face a neutral trade, since both sides move together. In contrast, a condo owner moving up to a detached home now trades a soft market for a firm one. Therefore, plan the sequence carefully before you list.
What does this mean if you are buying?
Your leverage depends on what you shop for. Condo buyers hold the advantage, while detached and luxury buyers should move with preparation.
If you want an apartment, take your time. Nearly five months of supply gives you selection, negotiating room, and space to think. In contrast, a well-located detached home in an established neighbourhood can still draw competition. Therefore, arrange financing and inspection support before you write an offer.
Luxury buyers face the tightest conditions of all. With a sale-to-list ratio near or above 100%, lowball offers waste your time. Instead, I would rather help you identify the right property early and prepare a clean, credible offer. You can start with our featured Calgary listings to calibrate expectations.
Where does the market go from here?
Watch supply by segment and watch borrowing costs. Those two forces will shape the next twelve months more than any headline number.
Apartment inventory needs to clear before that segment stabilizes, and construction completions will keep arriving for a while yet. Detached supply, meanwhile, stays structurally tight. The Bank of Canada policy rate will continue to influence mid-market affordability, though the luxury segment has shown far less sensitivity to rate moves.
Population growth remains the wild card. Should immigration recover, the condo overhang clears faster than current numbers suggest. Otherwise, that segment stays soft into next year while detached and luxury homes carry on largely unaffected.
Overall, I expect this divide to persist through the rest of the year. Buyers and sellers who track their own segment therefore make better decisions than those watching the citywide benchmark alone.
For monthly context, I follow the CREB housing statistics releases, and I compare them against national data from CMHC housing research. Reading both keeps local swings in proportion.
The Calgary housing market rewards precision right now. A seller working from the citywide benchmark will misprice a luxury home badly, and a condo buyer working from the same figure will overpay. Bring me your address and your price band, and I will show you the numbers that apply to your situation.
