TL;DR
The CREB August 2026 stats show a two-speed Calgary market. Sales fell 16.41% from last August, yet homes priced over $1,000,000 still sold in greater numbers. The detached benchmark rose only in the City Centre and West districts, while apartments carry nearly six months of supply. I explain what that split means for luxury buyers and sellers this fall.
What Did CREB's August 2026 Release Show?
Calgary recorded 1,660 sales in August 2026, down 16.41% from a year earlier, while new listings fell 9.66% to 3,141. Inventory eased to 6,509 homes, yet the months of supply still climbed to 3.92 because sales fell faster than listings.
The Calgary Real Estate Board released the package on September 1. You can read the full document on its monthly housing statistics page. The benchmark price for all home types came in at $569,800, 1.08% below last August and level with July. That benchmark tracks a typical home in each segment. The average price, in contrast, swings with whichever homes happened to sell that month.
By property type, the numbers diverge.
- Detached homes: benchmark $744,300, down 1.09%, with 3.39 months of supply and 35 days on market.
- Semi-detached homes: benchmark $690,500, up 0.98%, with 3.30 months of supply. That is the first time supply has passed three months since January.
- Row homes: benchmark $415,200, down 5.44%, with 3.85 months of supply.
- Apartments, finally, sit at a $295,400 benchmark, down 8.18%, with 5.68 months of supply and 52 days on market.
CREB called the gap significant, with "nearly six months of supply for apartment-style homes" against "over three months" for detached.
Why the $1 million line matters
The CREB August 2026 stats split at $1,000,000. Above that line, sales rose from a year ago; below it, they fell. CREB reported that "homes priced over $1,000,000 have recorded gains over last year" even as total sales fell. It credited detached and semi-detached homes with most of those gains.
Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB's chief economist, said the top-end growth "was possible thanks to improved supply choice". She added that it "also reflects longer-term confidence in our market". The lower price ranges have not seen the same pickup, she noted. Favourable rental conditions are slowing the move from renting to owning.
That matches what I see on inner-city streets this month. Buyers above the $1,000,000 line have more homes to compare than a year ago. They take their time, but the good homes still sell. Sellers who priced to the spring headlines rather than to the current benchmark are the ones sitting.
Average price up, benchmark down: the mix shift
Sellers who read one number in the release on its own get the wrong picture. The detached average price rose 4.17% to $813,806 in August, while the detached benchmark slipped 1.09% to $744,300. Both figures come from the same page, yet they measure different things.
The average moves with the mix of homes that sold. If more homes above $1,000,000 change hands and fewer mid-priced homes do, the average climbs. No single home needs to gain value for that to happen. The benchmark strips out that mix effect and follows a typical home instead. In August, then, the typical detached home lost about 1% of its value year over year. The mix of sales shifted toward pricier homes.
If a neighbour tells you Calgary detached prices rose 4% in August, they read the average. If you are pricing a home this fall, start with the benchmark trend in your district. You can then adjust for what your home offers over the competition.
Where Did Luxury Detached Prices Rise?
Only two districts posted year-over-year detached benchmark gains: City Centre at $995,700, up 2.24%, and West at $992,500, up 2.78%. Every other district fell, and the North East dropped the most at 6.44%.
CREB's district data is the finest grain it publishes, so I quote districts rather than communities. The City Centre district takes in Elbow Park, Mount Royal, Altadore and Britannia. Its benchmark therefore blends heritage estates with modern infills. I do not present a district benchmark as a community's price, and neither should anyone selling you a house.
| District | Detached benchmark | Year over year | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|
| City Centre | $995,700 | +2.24% | 3.84 |
| West | $992,500 | +2.78% | 2.34 |
| North West | $781,500 | -1.30% | 2.62 |
| South | $715,200 | -1.69% | 2.97 |
| South East | $703,600 | -1.70% | 2.99 |
| North | $647,400 | -3.89% | 4.10 |
| North East | $560,500 | -6.44% | 5.36 |
| East | $489,500 | -3.11% | 3.70 |
| City of Calgary | $744,300 | -1.09% | 3.39 |
Source: CREB's August 2026 monthly statistics, district summary for detached homes.
The supply column matters as much as the price column. West has the least supply in the table, so buyers there face competition and sellers hold the cards. City Centre carries a month and a half more. A luxury buyer in the inner-city southwest has more choice there; a seller, meanwhile, has more competition. That is the "improved supply choice" Lurie described.
Semi-detached homes in the inner city
Semi-detached homes, the format of many inner-city infills, moved the same way. The City Centre semi-detached benchmark reached $965,700, up 2.09% from last August. The West district posted $824,000, up 1.43%, and the North West also gained, at $680,600 and up 2.12%. CREB noted that gains in those three districts offset pullbacks elsewhere, hence the city-wide increase of 0.98%.
Semi-detached sellers city-wide received 98.02% of their list price, the highest ratio of any segment. Their homes also took 40 days to sell on average. In my experience, a well-built infill on a quiet inner-city street still draws relocating professionals. They want new construction without a suburban commute.
What Should Luxury Sellers Do This Fall?
Price to your district's benchmark trend rather than the city-wide average. Expect buyers to negotiate on conditions instead of walking away.
Detached sellers across Calgary received 97.91% of list price in August. Set a realistic price, then, and you land close to your number. Detached homes took 35 days to sell, the same as last August. More homes over $1,000,000 also changed hands than a year ago. This month, the homes attracting those buyers share two traits. The first trait is an honest price from day one. The second is a finish that photographs well in low autumn light.
Three moves I recommend for a fall listing:
- Ask me for a free home evaluation before you set a price. A district benchmark gives you the trend; your street and your finish set the number.
- Check your competition in the district. City Centre had 376 detached homes in inventory in August against 98 sales. West, in contrast, had 218 in inventory against 93 sales, so your buyer there has less choice.
- Finally, stage for the season. Calgary's low autumn sun reaches deep into south- and west-facing rooms. I schedule photography for the afternoon, so the home reads warm rather than dim.
Sellers of apartments and row homes face a buyer's market. Apartment sellers received 96.37% of list price and waited 52 days on average. A condo listed this fall therefore needs sharp pricing on day one, rather than a cut in November.
What Should Luxury Buyers Do This Fall?
Use the extra choice above $1,000,000 to be selective. Negotiate on terms rather than expecting deep discounts in the tight districts.
Start with rates. On September 2, 2026, the Bank of Canada held its overnight rate target at 2.25%. A steady rate gives you a clear budget. It also removes any hope that a cut this fall will make a stretch purchase comfortable. I run the numbers with my buyers at today's rate, then treat any future cut as a bonus.
Your district comes next, and the supply column should guide you. City Centre detached homes carried 3.84 months of supply in August; West carried only 2.34. The same budget, then, buys leverage in one district and competition in the other. You can also browse my current $1M to $2.5M listings, which I update as homes come and go.
Negotiate on what a seller can give rather than on price alone. Detached sellers still got almost all of their asking price in August. Do not expect a deep discount on a well-priced inner-city home. I win value for buyers on possession dates and inclusions instead.
The condo question
Apartments are the one segment where I tell buyers to push hard. City-wide, the apartment benchmark fell 8.18% to $295,400, sales dropped 25.84%, and supply stood at 5.68 months. In the City Centre district, specifically, 834 apartments sat in inventory against 110 sales, or 7.58 months of supply. The district benchmark of $303,500 also slipped 7.53% from last August.
Apartment prices "peaked in August 2024 at $341,300", CREB added, and sit nearly 13% below that peak. For a downsizer eyeing a Beltline condo, that is a rare amount of leverage in this city. A buyer who wants a downtown pied-a-terre likewise holds a strong hand.
New supply also matters here. CMHC's housing market outlook expects total housing starts in Calgary to remain high in 2026. CMHC expects condominium apartment construction, however, to slow more noticeably. Fewer new condo starts would ease that oversupply, but the relief arrives over years. This fall you negotiate against today's downtown resale inventory, which still runs deep.
What I'm Watching Into the Fall
Last month I asked whether Calgary is a buyer's market. After the August release, my answer is sharper: yes for apartments, no for well-located detached and semi-detached homes. Row homes sit somewhere in between. Heading into the fall, I'm tracking four things.
- The $1,000,000-plus segment, and whether sales there keep rising as the fall listings arrive. CREB tied the top-end gains to where supply grew. More choice could mean more sales; it could also mean more sellers competing for the same buyers.
- City Centre detached supply. It sat below four months in August. If it passes four, inner-city sellers lose some pricing power and buyers gain it.
- City Centre condo inventory. Those units will take time to clear, and each month they sit, apartment sellers face more pressure.
- The Bank of Canada's next decision. A steady 2.25% has become the planning assumption for the buyers I work with.
I use the August package to see where the leverage sits by segment and by district, which most headlines skip. Owners of detached or semi-detached homes in the City Centre or West district hold the strongest position in the city. Condo buyers, meanwhile, hold the strongest hand they have had in two years. Either way, read the benchmark and your district's months of supply, then set your price or your offer from there.
