It’s a good time to be a homebuyer in Calgary, according to several reports. A new report from Wahi says 97 per cent of Calgary neighbourhoods with at least five home sales were in underbidding territory, with homes selling for an average of nearly $10,000 less than the listed price. “The two reasons really come down to a lot of supply reaching the market, particularly condos. And at the same time, population growth has declined quite a bit,” said Wahi economist Ryan McLaughlin. “It’s not zero, it’s not negative, but it’s a lot slower than it was.” BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) Calgary says Calgary has seen three consecutive years of record housing starts through 2025, and while that has slowed somewhat in 2026, there were still more than 20,000 homes under construction at the start of the year. “Increased supply is one of the most effective long-term tools for improving housing affordability and giving buyers and renters more options to enter the market,” said BILD Calgary Region CEO Amie Blanchette. Calgary announced a major expansion on August 7, with two new neighbourhoods planned just south of 16th Avenue in the southeast. “Together, these two neighbourhoods will transform more than 133 acres into a vibrant, connected master planning community with nearly 1,500 homes, housing for more than 4,100 residents, neighbourhood commercial spaces supporting nearly 300 jobs, and welcoming public spaces bringing people together,” said Peter Trutina, Truman Homes’ vice-president of land development. First-time homebuyer Cam Hobbs says these factors helped him get into the market. “With the market kind of shifting a little bit, there was a good price available for me. There’s a lot on the market right now and a lot of opportunity, especially if you’re a new home buyer,” Hobbs said. Hobbs bought a new townhouse for $52,000 less than the original asking price. He says the original price was $509,000, but some patience led to a price drop to $488,000 before he negotiated the price down to $480,000. After that, the federal government’s five per cent GST relief for first-time homeowners brought the total cost down to $457,000 on new builds. “It still takes discipline, sacrifice, some luck and good timing to make home ownership possible, but the opportunity is there for first-time homebuyers especially,” Hobbs said. McLaughlin emphasized how important supply is in a market favouring buyers, but it’s not the only factor. He also highlights a strong Calgary economy, creating conditions where people can afford to buy homes. “Employment is up, the economy is on decent footing, so this is not a housing contraction that is being driven by weakness in the underlying economy. It’s being driven by supply meeting the market, and perhaps at the same time, population growth slowing,” McLaughlin said. McLaughlin highlighted condos specifically as a main driver of lower prices and a more buyer-friendly market. He says condos remain the most popular type of housing being built in Calgary, and while it’s possible lower condo prices will impact similar units, he says it’s too early to draw direct parallels between condos and other housing types. “There is some evidence that in some markets what you see is prices and rents coming down with the condos, and just not as much with single family homes, because that’s not where we’re getting the supply,” McLaughlin added/ “That said, you can always imagine a world if the average single family home is $10 million and the average condo is half a million dollars, people will trade, they’ll make the switch.” “There’s a price differential where at some point everyone switches. But how exchangeable are those product types? It will be interesting to see,” he continued.
