One month of supply, homes selling in twenty days, and townhouses at eight-tenths of a month — about as tight as a market gets.
In March 2024, Calgary’s benchmark home price was $589,500 — up 1.7% from February and 10.2% above March 2023. Sales rose 24.7% on the month to 2,658 while inventory of 2,542 homes sat 21.4% below last March. Supply fell to 1.0 months and a typical home sold in 20 days. Semi-detached and row homes were tightest at 0.8 months of supply, with row homes up 19.5% year-over-year to $442,400.
March 2024 at a glance
March 2024 brought Calgary to one month of supply — the point at which the entire market would clear in roughly four weeks if nothing new were listed. Sales reached 2,658, inventory was 21.4% below last March at 2,542 homes, and a typical property sold in 20 days. The benchmark rose 1.7% to $589,500, up 10.2% year-over-year. Semi-detached and row homes had fallen to 0.8 months of supply.
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 | $565,200 | ▲ +8.9% |
| 2024 (to March) | $589,500 | ▲ +4.3% |
Sales, listings and inventory
| Month | Sales | New listings | Inventory | Days on market | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| November 2023 | 1,783 | 2,227 | 3,001 | 29 | $567,900 |
| December 2023 | 1,362 | 1,248 | 2,170 | 33 | $565,200 |
| January 2024 | 1,649 | 2,137 | 2,155 | 34 | $565,300 |
| February 2024 | 2,132 | 2,711 | 2,357 | 24 | $579,800 |
| March 2024 | 2,658 | 3,173 | 2,542 | 20 | $589,500 |
The headline numbers
| Metric | March 2024 | vs prev month | vs last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benchmark price | $589,500 | ▲ +1.7% | ▲ +10.2% |
| Sales | 2,658 | ▲ +24.7% | ▲ +9.7% |
| New listings | 3,173 | ▲ +17% | ▼ -4.3% |
| Inventory | 2,542 | ▲ +7.8% | ▼ -21.4% |
| Days on market | 20 | ▼ -4 days | ▼ -7 days |
A look by property type
| Property type | Benchmark | vs last year | Sales | Days on mkt | Months of supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $737,100 | ▲ +13.6% | 1,148 | 20 | 1.0 |
| Semi-detached | $658,400 | ▲ +14% | 250 | 21 | 0.8 |
| Row / townhouse | $442,400 | ▲ +19.5% | 447 | 17 | 0.8 |
| Apartment condo | $322,300 | ▲ +15.5% | 813 | 23 | 1.1 |
What one month of supply does to a transaction
At this level, the normal sequence of buying a home inverts. You cannot view a property, think it over, arrange financing and then write an offer — there isn’t time. Every part of that process has to be complete before you find the house.
It also pushes buyers toward removing conditions, which is where the genuine financial risk enters. An offer without a financing condition means that if your lender values the property below what you agreed to pay, you cover the gap in cash. In a market where prices had risen 10% in a year, appraisals lagging negotiated prices was a regular occurrence.
Prices had risen $73,200 in fourteen months
The benchmark had gone from $516,300 in January 2023 to $589,500 in March 2024 — a gain of $73,200, or 14.2%, over fourteen months. Detached homes had risen from $623,900 to $737,100 over the same period.
For anyone saving toward a purchase, that is the hard arithmetic of a shortage. A 10% down payment target on a typical home had risen by more than $7,000 in just over a year, while the income required to qualify rose alongside it.
New listings finally fell behind again
New listings of 3,173 were 4.3% below March 2023 — the first year-over-year decline since the previous summer. The brief seller recovery of late 2023 had stalled just as demand accelerated.
That combination is why supply hit 1.0 months. It also explains why the eventual easing, when it came later in 2024, was so abrupt: the market had no cushion at all.
What this meant if you were buying
March 2024 was among the most difficult months to buy in Calgary’s recent history. The realistic advice was to be completely prepared, to know your limit precisely, and to accept that you would probably lose on some properties.
If you were repeatedly losing out, it was worth reconsidering the segment rather than the strategy. Detached homes at 1.0 months of supply were, remarkably, no tighter than the city average, while row homes at 0.8 were harder. Buyers who could qualify for a detached home sometimes faced less competition than those competing for townhouses.
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Source: CREB, March 2024 (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.
