Is It a Good Time to Buy in Calgary?
Answered from CREB®'s August 2026 figures, segment by segment, with the conventions used to answer it stated on the page. No forecast, no pitch.
It depends far more on the segment than on the month. As of August 2026 (CREB®), Calgary's sales-to-new-listings ratio was 53%, which by CREA's convention (roughly 45% to 65%) reads as balanced, with 3.92 months of supply city-wide. Apartment is the segment closest to buyer-favourable conditions — a 48% ratio (balanced, at the low end of the range), 5.68 months of supply and a benchmark of $295,400, -8.2% year over year. Semi-detached is at the other end at 56% (balanced, mid-range) and 3.30 months, benchmark $690,500 (+1.0%). The total residential benchmark was $569,800, +0.1% from July 2026. This page does not forecast; it states the conventions it uses and updates when CREB® publishes.
The conditions, segment by segment (CREB®, August 2026)
Read the last column with the rule stated below it: the sales-to-new-listings ratio is what CREA uses to describe market balance, and it is the only column here that carries a published threshold.
| Segment | Benchmark | YoY | Sales-to-new-listings | Months of supply | Days on market | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $744,300 | -1.1% | 54% | 3.39 | 35 | balanced |
| Semi-detached | $690,500 | +1.0% | 56% | 3.30 | 40 | balanced |
| Row / townhouse | $415,200 | -5.4% | 56% | 3.85 | 47 | balanced |
| Apartment | $295,400 | -8.2% | 48% | 5.68 | 52 | balanced |
| All residential | $569,800 | -1.1% | 53% | 3.92 | 41 | balanced |
Source: Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®), August 2026 monthly statistics package. Benchmark is the MLS® Home Price Index benchmark for the City of Calgary. "Read" applies CREA's convention: a sales-to-new-listings ratio roughly between 45% and 65% is consistent with balanced conditions; below it favours buyers, above it favours sellers. Months of supply is shown beside it without a threshold — CREB® publishes the figure, not a cut-off.
What has changed over the months this site has archived
- Months of supply went from 2.84 in April 2026 to 3.92 in August 2026 city-wide (CREB®). The loosest segment in August 2026 is apartment at 5.68 months; the tightest is semi-detached at 3.30.
- Sales were 1,660 in August 2026, -16.4% against the same month a year earlier (CREB®). Sales are seasonal — spring is usually the busiest stretch — so compare a month with the same month last year, not with April.
- The benchmark moved +0.2% between April 2026 and August 2026; the year-over-year change narrowed from -3.5% to -1.1% over the same rows (CREB®). Flat prices with rising supply is a market where a buyer can take their time; it is not a market that is falling out from under sellers.
The full month-by-month table, by segment, is on the Calgary house prices history page.
What the month cannot tell you
- Your horizon. Buying and later selling costs several percent of the price in legal fees, commission on the sale, moving and land-title costs. A flat year matters far less to someone holding for several years than to someone who has to sell within one. If you cannot commit to several years, the month is close to irrelevant.
- Rate against price. On $455,840 borrowed (80% of the August 2026 benchmark of $569,800, CREB®) over 25 years, a 4% rate costs about $2,398 a month and a 5% rate about $2,651 — a difference of roughly $253 a month, or $3,041 a year. One percent of the benchmark is $5,698. Those are illustrative rates for the arithmetic, not a quote; this site holds no mortgage licence and current rates are on the rates page, sourced from the Bank of Canada.
- Which segment you are actually in. A city-wide "balanced" hides apartment at 5.68 months of supply and semi-detached at 3.30 (CREB®, August 2026). Negotiating room, days on market and the seller's patience differ between them more than they differ between this month and last.
- The specific home. Well-priced homes in tight districts have tended to sell quickly whatever the month; an overpriced condo with a special assessment pending tends to sit whatever the month. The month sets the backdrop; the building and the price set the outcome.
General information, not advice. Nothing here is financial, mortgage, legal or tax advice, and no figure on this page is a prediction. Market figures are CREB®'s for the month named, change monthly, and should be confirmed current before you rely on them.
Questions
Is Calgary a buyer's market right now?
Not as a whole, as of August 2026: the city-wide sales-to-new-listings ratio of 53% sits inside the range CREA treats as balanced (roughly 45% to 65%), with 3.92 months of supply (CREB®, August 2026). By segment it is uneven. Apartment, at a 48% ratio and 5.68 months of supply, is the closest to buyer-favourable conditions and its benchmark is -8.2% year over year; semi-detached, at 56% and 3.30 months, is balanced.
Will Calgary house prices drop in 2027?
This page does not predict prices. What can be said is what is measurable now: the direction of months of supply over the archived months, the year-over-year change by segment, and the sales-to-new-listings ratio, all of which are on this page with their dates. Watch those three each month rather than a forecast; when the ratio moves out of the balanced range for several months in a row, conditions have changed.
Should I buy now or wait for lower rates?
Run both sides of the arithmetic instead of guessing. On a mortgage of $455,840 (80% of the August 2026 benchmark) amortized over 25 years, the difference between a 4% and a 5% rate is about $253 a month; a 1% move in the benchmark is about $5,698 of price. Waiting is a bet that rates or prices fall by more than what you pay in rent and in risk while waiting, and nobody can tell you which way that bet lands. What you can control is buying a segment where the current conditions favour you, and buying with a horizon of several years so a flat year does not force a sale.
Is it a good time to buy a condo in Calgary?
By the numbers, apartments are the segment where a buyer currently has the most room: 5.68 months of supply, a 48% sales-to-new-listings ratio, a benchmark of $295,400 that is -8.2% year over year, and 52 days on market as CREB® reports it (CREB®, August 2026). Room to negotiate is not the same as a good building. Condo fees, the reserve fund study and any pending special assessment matter more to what you actually pay than the month you buy in; this site has a separate page on reading those.
Next
- Calgary house prices, month by month — the series behind the reads above.
- What can I afford? — your numbers, with the stress test applied.
- Condo reality check — fees, reserve funds and special assessments before you buy an apartment.
- First-time buyers in Calgary — the programs and the order to use them in.
- Calgary market data — the full current month by district and municipality.
Last updated 2026-09-15 · Written by Mohammad Emon, REALTOR® (SRES®) & Licensed Property Manager, KO Realty · RECA licence CON-00133897