Calgary homes show excellent growth in value per square foot

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Calgary homebuyers are not only getting better value for their purchasing dollars here than in Canada’s largest cities. Buyers here are also seeing among the best growth in their real estate investment over the last few years, a new survey shows.

Century 21 released its annual Price Per Square Foot Survey in late July, comparing Canadian resale real estate markets across different housing types by their price per square foot.

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Calgary’s single-family detached home and condo markets were not only significantly more affordable than Toronto and Vancouver, the resale segments are among the fastest growing by price per square foot year over year.

The findings come as no surprise to local and a growing number of out-of-town buyers, says realtor Doug Cabral with Royal LePage Benchmark in Calgary.

“Emerging from a five-year recession just as COVID-19 hit, Alberta’s lower cost of living and housing affordability has made it a prime destination for Canadians seeking a better quality of life,” he says.

“Calgary, in particular, has been the biggest beneficiary of this influx.”

The Century 21 survey found the cost per square foot of a single-family detached home in Calgary in 2024 was $470 and $421 for a condominium. Those are year-over-year increases of more than 12 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, the highest among all large cities in Canada.

The study also revealed growth in the city’s real estate over the past six years.

Since 2018, the price per square foot has increased nearly 38 per cent for single-family detached homes, and more than 27 per cent for condominiums.

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By comparison, a condo in downtown Toronto in 2024 has an average square foot cost of $706, down more than four per cent year over year. In 2018, the cost per square foot was $903, a decrease of nearly 22 per cent from 2024.

In Vancouver, prices remain significantly higher than Calgary despite being down, year over year. Single-family homes’ average price per square foot, for example, is $890 this year, down nine per cent from 2023. As well, the average price is only up about four per cent from 2018 — an annualized rate of less than one per cent.

Calgary didn’t see the largest percentage jump in price year over year in the survey, which involved dozens of municipalities. High River condos, for example, were up more than 22 per cent at $224 per square foot in 2024, the largest year-over-year percentage increase in Alberta. St. John’s, NL, saw the largest increase at nearly 63 per cent for a detached home at $272 per square foot.

Overall, the survey provides a snapshot of affordability for Calgary versus the nation’s most populous urban centres, which are struggling with high demand and short supply, says Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist with the Calgary Real Estate Board.

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“Relative affordability is one factor helping draw migrants from other provinces,” she says.

The strong market conditions can cut both ways.

“Housing demand rose with the shift in migration and the slow supply response caused market conditions to shift to favour the seller, driving up prices,” she says.

“These conditions have made it far more competitive … especially for lower priced homes.”

Even amid higher prices, high demand continues in Calgary, driven by strong migration and economic growth, and a market that is still affordable among major cities, which have become so pricey, they’re seeing prices and sales decline, Lurie says.

“This is one of the reasons why our market continues to behave differently than other markets.”

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