MARKET UPDATE FOR CALGARY REAL ESTATE IN JULY 2025
The following big trends continue to play out during this slow-feeling summer:
Believe what you hear in the news:
- Apartments are in a buyer's market, particularly in outlying areas near new construction
- Rents continue to fall (approx 0.5% per month) as purpose-built apartments completions continue
Don't believe what you hear in the news:
- Detached homes, semi-detached & townhomes (in durable locations) are in a balanced market and we expect inventory for the year to have peaked. There is only very slight erosion of values over time in some pockets.
- Semi-detached and detached homes in the city centre & West End continue to hold up very well (appreciating in pockets).
Other
- Airdrie is seeing declining home values, but not Cochrane or Okotoks. Chestermere is also displaying stable prices for now, but inventory is elevated (6 months of supply).
- The picture for townhomes is very complex and highly dependent on location. For example, they remain scarce in the City Centre but are plentiful in the NE
- In general we are seeing a "flight to quality" - in particular, quality locations.
Overall, we see two very different markets:
Investors are rightly gun-shy due to rents having fallen because new supply of purpose-built apartments. The flow of people migrating to Alberta has slowed - housing is becoming slightly less unaffordable in Toronto (particularly apartments). As you can imagine, buyers and sellers of apartments are being given very different advice to people wanting to transact non-apartment properties. This is especially true if we are dealing outside of the City Centre.
Our consumer clients have been purchasing homes with confidence all across the region, whether buying for the first time, moving within the city, or from out of town/province. The underlying shortage of detached (and semi-detached) homes in Canada continues to persist, and this will drive values over the coming years (& possibly decades). Over the last 5 years, we have been surprised, over and over again, by the breadth & depth of demand; by the number of buyers and their incomes/wealth. In this sense, we see the last 12 months and some of the next few months as a break/opportunity to move up or accumulate non-apartment homes. We therefore share this same confidence with homeowners in Calgary and the surrounding area - again, particularly those with homes in average or better locations, away from large new subdivisions. Clients are enjoying securing homes with conditions to sell their own homes - something that feels like a bit of a treat, after the last few years.
It's well worth reading reports from our agents across the country (see below), but in summary, the apartment market in Ontario and Vancouver is falling rapidly, and stability has reasserted itself for other housing types in those locations. Smaller, cheaper markets (prairies and maritimes) are seeing home prices continue to rise rapidly. In Calgary, we find ourselves, strangely, in the balanced middle due mainly to our size and middle-of-the-road pricing.
Of course, all eyes are on interest rates and national confidence/psyche, especially as it relates to trade negotiations. We're also, as always, watching the future of natural resources development here in Alberta and beyond.