Sales up 27% on the year, row homes at 0.8 months of supply, and the affordable end of the market rising fastest of all.
In August 2023, Calgary’s benchmark home price was $566,000 — up 0.5% from July and 6.4% above August 2022. Sales reached 2,716, up 27.3% year-over-year, while inventory fell to 3,267 homes, 31.7% below a year earlier. Supply was 1.2 months and a typical home sold in 25 days. Row homes led price growth at 13.6% year-over-year with just 0.8 months of supply; apartment condos rose 7.7% to $299,200 with 1.1 months.
August 2023 at a glance
August’s headline was another modest price gain — the benchmark up 0.5% to $566,000 — but the interesting movement was underneath it. Row homes rose 13.6% year-over-year to $410,500 and apartment condos 7.7% to $299,200, both comfortably outpacing detached homes at 10.1%. Row homes sat at 0.8 months of supply and condos at 1.1. Sales were up 27.3% on the year at 2,716, and inventory was 31.7% lower. Calgary’s affordable housing was where the pressure had gone.
Calgary prices over time
| Year | Benchmark price | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $459,500 | — |
| 2015 | $448,800 | ▼ -2.3% |
| 2016 | $434,100 | ▼ -3.3% |
| 2017 | $433,200 | ▼ -0.2% |
| 2018 | $424,600 | ▼ -2% |
| 2019 | $415,900 | ▼ -2% |
| 2020 | $421,300 | ▲ +1.3% |
| 2021 | $463,900 | ▲ +10.1% |
| 2022 | $518,800 | ▲ +11.8% |
| 2023 (to August) | $566,000 | ▲ +9.1% |
Sales, listings and inventory
| Month | Sales | New listings | Inventory | Days on market | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2022 | 1,894 | 2,626 | 4,461 | 39 | $527,400 |
| October 2022 | 1,857 | 2,174 | 3,889 | 40 | $523,900 |
| November 2022 | 1,642 | 1,611 | 3,116 | 40 | $520,200 |
| December 2022 | 1,201 | 1,032 | 2,222 | 46 | $518,800 |
| January 2023 | 1,198 | 1,852 | 2,451 | 42 | $516,300 |
| February 2023 | 1,737 | 2,386 | 2,747 | 33 | $526,500 |
| March 2023 | 2,424 | 3,314 | 3,235 | 27 | $535,100 |
| April 2023 | 2,686 | 3,132 | 3,234 | 24 | $545,100 |
| May 2023 | 3,117 | 3,650 | 3,214 | 24 | $552,700 |
| June 2023 | 3,140 | 3,939 | 3,469 | 22 | $560,300 |
| July 2023 | 2,644 | 3,247 | 3,498 | 23 | $563,100 |
| August 2023 | 2,716 | 3,129 | 3,267 | 25 | $566,000 |
The headline numbers
| Metric | August 2023 | vs prev month | vs last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark price | $566,000 | ▲ +0.5% | ▲ +6.4% |
| Sales | 2,716 | ▲ +2.7% | ▲ +27.3% |
| New listings | 3,129 | ▼ -3.6% | ▲ +15.1% |
| Inventory | 3,267 | ▼ -6.6% | ▼ -31.7% |
| Days on market | 25 | ▲ +2 days | ▼ -10 days |
A look by property type
| Property type | Benchmark | vs last year | Sales | Days on mkt | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $696,700 | ▲ +10.1% | 1,193 | 24 | 1.4 |
| Semi-detached | $621,400 | ▲ +9.2% | 196 | 22 | 1.3 |
| Row / townhouse | $410,500 | ▲ +13.6% | 454 | 20 | 0.8 |
| Apartment condo | $299,200 | ▲ +7.7% | 873 | 30 | 1.1 |
Affordability drives the competition
When rates rise, buyers don’t leave the market — they move down it. A household that could have qualified for a $700,000 detached home in 2021 was limited to something closer to $600,000 by 2023 on the same income and down payment, because they now had to qualify at a far higher stress-tested rate. Every increase pushed another cohort down a rung, and they went looking at townhouses.
The result is visible in the supply figures. Row homes at 0.8 months and condos at 1.1 were tighter than detached at 1.4. The bottom of Calgary’s market had become its most contested part, which is the opposite of how people usually assume housing works.
Condos had nearly reached $300,000
The apartment condo benchmark was $299,200, up from $245,200 in January 2021 — a gain of 22% over two and a half years. For most of 2021 that segment had been Calgary’s dead weight, with seven months of supply and falling prices.
Anyone who bought a Calgary condo in early 2021, when it looked like the obviously weak choice, had done considerably better than the market average. That is worth remembering the next time a segment is written off.
Listings were finally returning
New listings of 3,129 were 15.1% above August 2022 — the first meaningful year-over-year increase in more than a year. It’s a small signal against inventory still 31.7% down, but it’s the first crack in the lock-in effect that had suppressed supply since mid-2022.
For buyers this mattered more than the price line. The shortage was the binding constraint on Calgary’s market, and any sustained recovery in listings would do more for affordability than a modest price decline could.
What this meant if you were buying
If you were shopping at the affordable end, August 2023 was genuinely difficult — 0.8 months of supply for row homes means almost nothing available, with competition from buyers who had been pushed down from above.
One practical note for condo buyers: lenders scrutinise the building as well as the borrower. A condo with a weak reserve fund, a pending special assessment, or a high proportion of rented units can be difficult to finance, and finding that out after an offer is accepted is an expensive way to learn it. Ask for the documents early.
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Source: CREB, August 2023 (City of Calgary geography). Prices shown are benchmark (HPI) values. Month-over-month compares to the prior month; year-over-year to the same month last year. The board may revise past months as late sales are recorded. Prepared by Mortgages for Less.
