Row homes up 17% on the year and still at one month of supply — while the overall market barely moved.
In October 2023, Calgary’s benchmark home price was $566,800 — up 0.2% from September and 8.2% above October 2022. Sales were 2,169, up 16.8% year-over-year, while inventory eased to 3,205 homes, 17.6% below last year. Supply was 1.5 months and a typical home sold in 27 days. Row homes rose 17% year-over-year to $422,400 with 1.0 months of supply; apartment condos rose 10.4% to $306,800.
October 2023 at a glance
Calgary’s overall benchmark barely moved in October — up 0.2% to $566,800, the third consecutive month around the same level. Underneath, the divergence kept widening. Row homes rose 17% year-over-year to $422,400 and apartment condos 10.4% to $306,800, while detached homes gained 11.8%. Row homes were at 1.0 months of supply against 1.6 for detached. Sales of 2,169 were up 16.8% on the year and inventory was down 17.6%.
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 October) | $566,800 | ▲ +9.3% |
Sales, listings and inventory
| Month | Sales | New listings | Inventory | Days on market | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| September 2023 | 2,430 | 3,191 | 3,383 | 25 | $565,600 |
| October 2023 | 2,169 | 2,685 | 3,205 | 27 | $566,800 |
The headline numbers
| Metric | October 2023 | vs prev month | vs last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark price | $566,800 | ▲ +0.2% | ▲ +8.2% |
| Sales | 2,169 | ▼ -10.7% | ▲ +16.8% |
| New listings | 2,685 | ▼ -15.9% | ▲ +23.5% |
| Inventory | 3,205 | ▼ -5.3% | ▼ -17.6% |
| Days on market | 27 | ▲ +2 days | ▼ -13 days |
A look by property type
| Property type | Benchmark | vs last year | Sales | Days on mkt | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $697,600 | ▲ +11.8% | 974 | 27 | 1.6 |
| Semi-detached | $626,700 | ▲ +12.2% | 179 | 25 | 1.6 |
| Row / townhouse | $422,400 | ▲ +17% | 376 | 23 | 1.0 |
| Apartment condo | $306,800 | ▲ +10.4% | 640 | 29 | 1.5 |
The market had split in two
For three months Calgary’s headline price had sat between $565,600 and $566,800 — apparently static. In the same period row homes rose from $410,500 to $422,400 and condos from $299,200 to $306,800.
A flat average built from segments moving at very different speeds is one of the more misleading things in housing data. If you were shopping for a townhouse in the autumn of 2023, the market you experienced was rising at nearly 17% a year, not standing still.
Why the affordable end kept tightening
Two groups were competing for the same homes. First-time buyers whose qualifying amounts had been cut by higher rates, and move-down buyers or investors looking for something that still cash-flowed. Row homes sat exactly where those two groups overlapped.
Supply made it worse. At 1.0 months, the row home segment had about four weeks of stock. Sellers in that segment were also buyers who faced the same constrained market, so few of them listed.
Listings kept improving
New listings were up 23.5% year-over-year — the third consecutive monthly increase and the largest yet. Inventory’s year-over-year deficit had narrowed from 31.7% in August to 17.6% in October.
The trend was consistent and it mattered. Calgary’s shortage had taken eighteen months to build and would take a while to unwind, but October was the clearest evidence yet that it had started.
What this meant if you were buying
The strategic question in late 2023 was whether to compete in the hottest segment or stretch to a quieter one. With detached homes at 1.6 months of supply and row homes at 1.0, the detached market was — counter-intuitively — the less contested place to buy, if you could qualify for it.
That’s a real calculation worth running rather than assuming. The gap between a row home at $422,400 and a detached home at $697,600 is large, but so is the difference between competing against three buyers and competing against ten. A proper look at your qualifying amount tells you whether that option is even open to you.
Frequently asked questions
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Source: CREB, October 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.
