Declining interest rates, lower prices could attract first-time buyers in Alberta: report

A new report from Royal Lepage suggests lower interest rates and declining prices may be influencing the decision of adults looking to buy their first home.

It may be the right time for first-time homebuyers in Alberta to take the plunge, says a new realty report.

Royal Lepage released its 2025 First-time Homebuyers Survey on Thursday that suggests Canada’s real estate market is ripe for new buyers to hit the market.

The same is true for Alberta, where 13 per cent of adults in the province are planning to buy their first home within the next two years.

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The company says declining interest rates and lower prices are affecting those decisions but continued uncertainty is keeping many more first-time buyers anxious about making the investment.

“Today’s first-time buyers are navigating a softer market than the highly competitive conditions that defined the homebuying experience for many Calgarians during the pandemic,” said Natosha Wareham-Bakker, sales representative, Royal LePage Benchmark in Calgary in a Thursday news release.

“This shift has created some advantages, giving new purchasers greater bargaining power, particularly over move-up buyers who often need to sell their current property before purchasing another.”

Wareham-Bakker says she’s also noticed a shift in desired neighbourhoods, with more and more first-time buyers looking to purchase a home outside of the city.

“I’ve seen a lot of increase in activity when it comes to properties in Okotoks because Calgary is shifting south, it’s not that far away anymore and buying a detached property in Okotoks may get you the affordability that you simply won’t see in Calgary,” she said.

The Royal Lepage survey also found that nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of Alberta’s first-time buyers plan to put down at least 20 per cent as a down payment, avoiding the need of mortgage insurance on their home.

Forty-six per cent of Albertans said they would have help to secure that down payment from family or friends.

Wareham-Bakker says the first-time buyer segment is mainly made up of Canadians between their late twenties and early thirties, including many who are moving from high-priced cities to more affordable communities further away from those centres.

“Older first-time buyers, who have had more time to save, often aspire to own detached homes, while younger buyers typically gravitate toward smaller, more affordable property types,” she said.

The majority of Royal Lepage professionals in Alberta say first-time buyers are looking for homes in the range of $300,000 to $500,000.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, the average price of a home is $608,890 while the Realtors Association of Edmonton said the average price among all types of homes in that city is $461,281.