Today's Twenty-Four focuses on home price trends in Calgary and Edmonton*, utilizing the most recent data released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

Benchmark home prices in both cities are higher than they were a few years ago and there are no signs of a major price correction in the works. With that said, the downward trend from recent highs reflects two overarching factors: 1) slower population growth and the net outflow of non-permanent residents from the province; and 2) more housing stock being added via new construction with the province on track to set a new record for housing starts this year.

In Calgary, the price of a composite benchmark home (i.e., combining the single-detached, townhouse and apartment categories) in November was down 4% from the all-time high set in December 2024. There was less slippage in Edmonton with the price down by 1% compared to the high set in March 2025.

Technical note: CREA’s concept of “benchmark homes” allows for an “apples to apples” comparison of home prices across different Canadian cities. We’d love to be able to talk about more places than just Calgary and Edmonton, but these are the only Alberta cities for which the benchmark data are available.  

When compared to recent peaks, there are some notable differences by type of housing.

When we look at single-detached homes, the price peaked in Edmonton in October of this year and was basically the same in November (-0.2%). The detached category has seen more sustained price erosion in Calgary with the monthly price falling eight times so far this year and down 3% from the high reached in January 2025.

The pullback in prices has been larger in the townhouse and apartment categories than in the detached segment in both Calgary and Edmonton.

Benchmark townhouse prices were down by 5% in both cities compared to their peaks (March 2025 for Edmonton and November 2024 for Calgary).

Benchmark apartment prices have posted the largest declines at -9% in Edmonton (compared to June 2025**) and -7% in Calgary (compared to September 2024).

In absolute terms, however, Calgary remains the more expensive market across all three housing categories with the composite benchmark price in November coming in at $560,200 versus $420,000 in Edmonton.  

*Refers to the Calgary and Edmonton Census Metropolitan Areas.

**Interestingly, the all-time high for the price of a benchmark apartment in Edmonton was set in June 2007 at $237,100, well above the recent peak of $220,800. This is the only category where the all-time high was set before 2024.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Four ghosts appear in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Jacob Marley and the three Spirits of Christmas: Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come).

Today’s trivia question: The late great John Candy appears in what 1990 movie set during the Christmas holidays?