Alberta Housing Market Update — April 2026

Alberta Housing Market Update — April 2026

Alberta is shifting. After two years of seller-market intensity driven by record migration, April 2026 confirms what CREB has been signalling all year: Calgary is moving toward balance, with very different stories playing out by property type. Here is the breakdown.

Calgary Snapshot (CREB, April 2026)

• Total residential benchmark: $568,800, down 3% YoY
• Sales: 2,104, down 6% YoY
• New listings: 3,829 — sales-to-new-listings ratio of 55%
• Inventory: 5,973 units, ~2% above last April
• Months of supply: just under 3 — broadly balanced
• Detached benchmark: $745,400 (~2 months of supply, still tight)
• Semi-detached benchmark: $690,000
• Apartment benchmark: $301,400, down nearly 9% YoY (4+ months of supply — buyer market)

"Improved supply choice across the entire housing spectrum has reduced the urgency among potential purchasers," said CREB Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. The detached market is still tight; the apartment market clearly favours buyers.

Regional Snapshot

• Airdrie: benchmark $516,700, down ~5% YoY but up ~1% MoM
• Cochrane: benchmark $569,200, sales-to-new-listings ratio above 70%, conditions tightening again
• Okotoks: benchmark $627,600, in line with last April, only 2.5 months of supply
• Edmonton: detached and townhouse segments outperforming Calgary on a YoY basis; apartments still the cheapest entry point of any major Canadian city

Why Alberta Still Outperforms (Even With Sales Easing)

1. Migration: still elevated, even if the 2024 peaks are cooling
2. Employment: energy and tech both hiring; unemployment in the low-6% range
3. Affordability: Calgary price-to-income near 4.2x and Edmonton near 3.4x — far below Ontario (8x+) and BC (10x+)
4. No PTT: Alberta has no provincial Land Transfer Tax, only modest registration fees

Mortgage Math on a Typical Calgary Detached

Take a $745,400 Calgary detached with 20% down (~$149K):

• Mortgage: ~$596,300
• Rate: 4.04% (5-year fixed insured-equivalent monoline)
• Amortization: 25 years
• Principal & interest: ~$3,160/month
• Property tax: ~$300/month
• Heat: ~$120/month
• Total PITH: ~$3,580/month

To pass the 2026 stress test (qualify at 6.04%), required household income lands near $132K. The 4.5x rule of thumb agrees: $596K mortgage / 4.5 ≈ $132K of income.

What This Means for Buyers

• Detached buyers: still need to act decisively — months of supply is just over two and the West, North West and South districts are seller markets with monthly price gains
• Apartment buyers: you have the upper hand. Lowballs are landing, especially in the North East, East and North districts where prices are down sharpest
• Suburb buyers: Okotoks is tight (2.5 months supply), Cochrane is tightening again, Airdrie is the most negotiable of the three
• Use the FHSA + RRSP HBP stack — at Alberta prices it can fully fund 20% down on a starter

What Renewers and Refinancers Should Do

If you renewed in 2021 at sub-2%, your renewal payment will jump 30-50% even at todays lower rates. Two strategies:

1. Extend amortization on renewal to soften the payment shock (most insured mortgages can stretch back to 30 years on transfer)
2. Consolidate high-interest debt into the renewal — turning 22% credit card debt into 4% mortgage debt frees real cash flow. See our debt consolidation page for the math

Outlook

Expect detached prices to stay firm or grind modestly higher through summer, with apartments under continued pressure until inventory absorbs. Alberta remains the best risk-adjusted housing market in Canada this spring — just with a more nuanced playbook by property type than the 2023-24 boom required.