If you ask someone what they think of current house prices, the answer will depend on whether they are a buyer or a seller. With that in mind, the latest housing price data from the Canadian Real Estate Association provide good news for both groups in the Calgary and Edmonton markets.

Recognizing that the price of individual properties varies greatly based on a wide range of factors, sellers in the Edmonton metro area can take heart that the benchmark* price of a home has increased 21 months in a row on a year-over-year (y/y) basis. Driven by low inventory and rapid population growth, the benchmark price in June** was over 8% higher than the year before and 16% above where it stood in June 2023.

Buyers in Edmonton, however, can take heart for two reasons. First, the benchmark price is 39% ($265,500) lower than the Canadian average. It’s also 26% ($148,200) lower than Calgary’s benchmark. Moving from Vancouver? You’re looking at a $732,700 lower benchmark price.

Second, there are signs that price growth may be about to cool with the benchmark price  pulling back slightly on a month-over-month (m/m) basis in both April and June. At the same time, supply pressures are easing with inventory starting to edge up, housing starts at record levels and population growth expected to slow.

In Calgary, the other Alberta population centre for which we have benchmark price data, a modest pullback is underway with the benchmark price decreasing y/y in both May and June (albeit after 56 straight increases) and the m/m price falling every month since January. As in Edmonton, the combined effect of rising resale inventory, surging new home construction and slower population growth have reduced price pressures. As a result, the benchmark price in June was 2.3% lower than the all-time record set in December 2024, falling from $584,500 to $571,300.

That said, Calgary sellers are not facing the kind of price correction seen in the Toronto market, where the benchmark price in June was 22% below the peak set in February 2022.  

What can we say about the state of Alberta’s two largest housing markets in the tug of war between buyers and sellers? The sales-to-new listings ratio (SNLR)*** provides some clues. It’s a rough guide, but an SNLR above 60% indicates a seller's market whereas levels below 40% point to a buyer's market. A SNLR between 40% and 60% suggests a balanced market.

Edmonton’s SNLR has come down from its recent peak of 77% in January, but was still in seller’s territory at 64% in June.

In Calgary, the SNLR has moved firmly into the balanced market zone at less than 56% since March.  

*The Canadian Real Estate Association calculates the average price of benchmark homes in various markets (including Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton) using the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI). The HPI is based on the value home buyers assign to various housing attributes, which tend to evolve gradually over time. It therefore provides an “apples to apples” comparison of home prices across the entire country. Each month, the HPI uses more than 15 years of MLS® System data and sophisticated statistical models to define a “typical” home based on the features of homes that have been bought and sold. These benchmark homes are tracked across Canadian neighbourhoods and different types of houses.

**The data in today’s Twenty-Four have been seasonally-adjusted.

***The SNLR is calculated by dividing the number of homes sold in a period by the total number of new listings added to the market, multiplied by 100 to get a percentage.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The term "confidence man" (a.k.a. con man) was popularized by a New York Herald reporter in 1849, who described William Thompson's method of asking people to express confidence in him as a means of gaining their money.

Today’s trivia question: Which Alberta city—Calgary or Edmonton—has the highest office tower in the country outside Toronto?