Home prices appear to be coming down in many areas of Canada, which could push more people to consider taking the plunge into the real estate market. But with thousands of Realtors to choose from, what do people need to look for when finding the right real estate agent? One of Calgary’s top Realtors says it’s not always best to go with recommendations or choose someone they know who works in the area where they live. “I don’t think most people really even ask real estate agents, ‘How many transactions have you done in the last year?’” Karen Fawcett, a real estate agent with RE/MAX Realty Professionals, tells CTV News. “If you don’t have a Realtor that has substantial momentum and experience, then you’re in a situation, often, where you’re overpriced and your property’s languishing.” Fawcett says choosing a Realtor in your area does have some advantages, but it doesn’t take much for an experienced individual to get up to speed. “I can go into any neighbourhood and be very knowledgeable in a matter of hours just by looking at the comparable sales and what’s sold and locations,” she says. “You can get educated on that fairly quickly if you’re knowledgeable and you understand the market.” Of the thousands of agents registered in the Calgary area, Fawcett says many are working part-time, which may not be the right situation for every client. “They get into it because they think it’s easy money – which it isn’t,” she says. “They have other jobs and they kind of do it on the side, which, again, doesn’t benefit the clients.” Fawcett says the profession “can get pretty hairy pretty quickly” for agents. “A lot of them don’t have experience and training and a skill set and a strong broker behind them that can help them out because (with) aspects of the deals, there’s usually issues on some side of the transaction.” The Canadian Real Estate Association says there are more than 158,000 Realtors in the country, but that number is down 3.3 per cent from its Q4 2025 report. Its peak membership was 164,598 members, recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. The Alberta Real Estate Association says its membership has grown from 15,054 in 2024 to now more than 15,800. More than half of those Realtors are registered in Calgary and area, the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) says. “As of March 3, there were 8,743 CREB members,” Lisa Latchford, associate CEO with CREB, told CTV News. “On March 3, 2025, there were 8,565 Realtors.” Real estate ‘complex and challenging’ Fawcett says she has enough work to handle her business costs but says that other Realtors who aren’t making a lot of sales would feel the pinch. “The average agent does three deals a year. When you’re doing three deals a year, first of all, you’re not very experienced. Second of all, you’re having a hard time paying all your dues and fees because you’re not making any money,” she says. “These inexperienced agents that aren’t making a lot of money are going to lowest cost brokerages or iCloud brokerages, right? And then they’re not getting experience or much in the way of training, from what I hear, and then that impacts the clients, right?” Fawcett says real estate is the fifth career she’s had in her life. “I would say this is the most complex and challenging career to do it properly, which many don’t.” What does Calgary’s market look like in 2026? Fawcett says Calgary’s inner-city market, which includes homes priced at $2 million and above, is moving quickly, sometimes with clients engaging in bidding wars. The market for detached homes under $700,000 is also strong, she says, with strong offers on many properties. But she says the city’s condo market is still oversupplied. “There’s right now 17,930 condos under construction, not to mention the oversupply and inventory we already have, so if you’re trying to sell condos or work in the condo space, you are in trouble,” she says. Latchford says there is “no question” there are changes occurring in Calgary’s housing market, but it’s not a buyer’s market. “To a degree, in the city of Calgary, it is dependent on the community in which you’re purchasing. Price increases, decreases, inventory levels can be related to the community level as well.” The most recent data, examining how Calgary’s housing market fared in February, said there were 1,526 sales that month, a decline of 11 per cent from February 2025. CREB says its market conditions are different when it compares property types, but the tightest conditions are among the detached and semi-detached properties. It also said increased supplies of apartment-style homes are being impacted by slowing migration levels.
