Calgary home prices expected to soar higher before end of year

The aggregate home price in Calgary is expected to jump by 8 per cent between September and December of this year, which is just short of the national 9 per cent expected in Canada around the same time.

Prices are expected to soar once again in the city at the end of 2024, according to an updated forecast by Royal LePage. It comes after the aggregate price of a Calgary home hiked by 9.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2024.

The aggregate home price in Calgary is expected to jump by 8 per cent between September and December of this year, which is just short of the national 9 per cent expected in Canada around the same time.

The city’s aggregate home price was over $676,000 in the first quarter of 2024 — the highest Q1 increase seen in all major Canadian markets.

Corine Lyall, owner and broker of Royal Lepage Benchmark, says it’s all being driven by a shortage of inventory, and it’s not just a trend in the City of Calgary.

“Any of our bedroom communities, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, Strathmore, Okotoks, they are all experiencing the same thing,” she says.

“Low inventory market and buyers that are interested in moving, but they’re competing with as many as 20 or 30 other people for the same property.”

While many people looking to get into the real estate market are still being pushed to the sidelines, Lyall says the city will see some inventory relief come 2026, when most mortgages have been renewed and have forced overleveraged homeowners to downsize and list their homes.

“The builders are trying to catch up, and definitely our new housing starts have increase this year, which is good,” Lyall says. “It’s still maybe not enough to give people an opportunity to buy something.”