Calgary's real estate market continues to burn hot (2024)

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The real estate market continues to build off a record-breaking 2021, with home values continuing to skyrocket in Calgary.

Single-family detached homes are up more than $100,000 over the past 12 months, including almost $50,000 in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Forecast released Tuesday morning.

Corinne Lyall, broker and owner for Royal LePage Benchmark in Calgary, said she expects the hot market to continue until about the third quarter, when supply and increased interest rates finally form a new equilibrium.

“Even though we are seeing more inventory come on, we’re selling what’s coming on, so there are buyers out there waiting to purchase,” she said. “We have gone from January to February where it would take hours for something to sell, now we are looking at a couple of days. As we get more supply, that supply-demand balance will occur. We just weren’t anticipating the number of buyers left over from last year and having no inventory.”

People who bought homes before the 2014-15 crash are finally seeing equity built up in their homes, which is encouraging them to cash in.

Single-family detached homes through the first three months of the year hit an aggregate price of $699,000, up from $590,000 through March of last year. At the end of 2021, the aggregate was $650,800.

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In January, the Calgary Real Estate Board predicted the hot market would continue through the first few months of this year, but said it would eventually fall off pace due to a lack of inventory and anticipated increases to interest rates by the Bank of Canada.

So far, the market has burned through those speed bumps.

Overall, the aggregate residential sale price has increased from $540,000 to $612,000 year-over-year, up from $576,800 since the end of 2021.

As hot as the market has been in Calgary, it is still lagging behind markets surrounding Toronto and Vancouver, where prices have gone up 27.7 and 18.2 per cent respectively, averaging $1,269,900 and $1,368,600.

Realtors are seeing a ripple effect on prices in Calgary, as people relocate to the city in search of more affordable living and a higher quality of life.

It is also reflected in an increase in condo prices, which are also on the rise after years of stagnation through multiple recessions.

Over the past 12 months, the aggregate price of a condo in Calgary has gone from $220,000 to $232,800, including up from $224,700 three months ago.

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Lyall said condos are becoming a more attractive option for first-time homebuyers looking to get into the market, especially as other segments take off.

“I’m incredibly optimistic that we’re finally absorbing inventory that has been left over at least since 2014, but I would say even post-2008 when there was a lot of development in that market,” said Lyall.

jaldrich@postmedia.com

Twitter: @JoshAldrich03

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