Good morning Calgary,

May stats are in, and Calgary’s split-market story is still very much alive. The difference now is that the gap between property types looks less like a short-term wobble and more like the market we may be living with for a while.

Let’s get into it.

- Nathaniel and Graham

What This Means: The weekly read is not screaming “slow market.” Sales, under-contract activity, and average sale price all moved up, which tells us buyers are still writing offers when the product, price, and location make sense.

But the caution lights are also on. Days on market are nudging higher, price reductions jumped 12.2%, and 80 deals came back to market. Translation: buyers are not gone, but they are less willing to chase, overlook issues, or pay yesterday’s price for today’s inventory.

We have talked before about Calgary becoming a two-speed market. May’s CREB numbers did not introduce that story. They confirmed it is still here, still widening in the places that matter, and likely to shape buyer and seller strategy for the foreseeable future.

Across the city, inventory reached 6,752 units in May. That is roughly in line with last May, but still 11% higher than longer-term May trends. Sales landed at 2,162, down 16% from last year, while the sales-to-new-listings ratio eased to 51%. On the surface, that sounds like a straightforward cooling story. But the longer this pattern holds, the clearer it gets that Calgary is not simply cooling in one direction. It is separating by product type.

Detached homes are still operating in a much tighter lane, with about two and a half months of supply. Apartment condos, on the other hand, are now sitting above five months of supply, creating conditions that favour buyers. That split is showing up in prices too. The total residential benchmark price was $570,500 in May, up from January but still 3% below last year. Detached homes rose from $724,000 in January to $747,800 in May, while apartments fell to $300,400, which is 9% below last May.

CREB’s chief economist, Ann-Marie Lurie, pointed to more choice in the new and rental markets, rising cost-of-living concerns, and slower migration as factors weighing on buyers. That matters because the extra supply is not hitting every property type the same way.

For buyers, this is where strategy gets interesting. If you are shopping apartments, there may be more room to negotiate than we have seen in a while. If you are hunting detached homes in strong districts, especially well-kept listings in established areas, the market is still not handing out discounts like Halloween candy.

For sellers, the message is just as blunt. Pricing loosely and hoping the market bails you out is getting riskier. The listings winning attention are the ones that understand their lane: product type, condition, location, and competition.

Calgary’s market has not fallen asleep. It has just become more selective, and May’s numbers suggest that selectivity is not going away tomorrow. Honestly, that might be healthier than the frenzy.

3123 Brentwood Boulevard NW is a 5-bedroom, 2-bath detached bungalow, and it has the kind of details buyers tend to remember. The main floor was taken back to the studs in 2016 and 2017, opening up the living, dining, and kitchen area around quartz counters, an island, and a proper pantry. Downstairs, a separate back entrance, updated basement, kitchenette, and two additional bedrooms create future flexibility, subject to City approval and permits.

The bigger story is the location. Brentwood keeps proving why established NW neighbourhoods still command attention: schools, transit, Market Mall, University District, and Nose Hill all close by.

🏢 Rental vacancy is doing its part now. The City of Calgary’s housing trends show rental vacancy rose from 1.4% in 2023 to 4.6% in 2024, with more purpose-built supply expected to push vacancy higher. That helps explain why CREB says new and rental supply are changing buyer urgency.

📉 Canada’s price drop still has not fixed affordability. A Canadian Mortgage Trends/Bloomberg report notes national benchmark prices are down about 20% since 2022, but many would-be buyers still feel locked out. Lower prices help, but they do not magically erase years of affordability strain.

🏘️ More apartment supply is not the same as more family-home supply. The same affordability story makes a point Calgary buyers already understand: lots of condo choice does not necessarily solve the problem for households looking for larger, family-sized ownership options.

🌾 Alberta is still tighter than most provinces, but Calgary has pockets of softness. WOWA’s national tracker had Alberta at 2.7 months of supply in April, one of the tighter provincial markets in Canada. Calgary’s May numbers show why local context matters: detached is still relatively firm, while apartment condos are much more buyer-friendly.

💸 Mortgage rates are steady enough to keep buyers watching, not frantic. Nesto’s Calgary outlook listed 5-year fixed rates around 4.09% on June 1 and described Calgary as a two-speed market. That is the mood right now: not panic buying, not disappearing, just more deliberate math.

If this was useful, forward it to someone trying to make sense of the market without reading a 40-page stats package over breakfast.

Talk to you next week,

Nathaniel and Graham | YYC Housing Pulse Team

Terryberry Real Estate Group