Calgary a leader in Canada's luxury real estate market, says Sotheby's

Calgary's luxury home market is booming, according to a new report from Sotheby's International Realty Canada.

The luxury real estate company said Calgary solidified its position as a Canadian leader in top-tier real estate in the third quarter of 2024.

In the first six months, more than 89,000 people moved to Alberta — a large percentage from Ontario and British Columbia — which increased housing demand and home prices in Calgary.

Sotheby's said 337 homes sold for more than $1 million in the city from July to August, which is an increase of 31 per cent, year-over-year. One home sold for over $4 million.

In September, 156 properties sold for more than $1 million, an increase of 15 per cent from the same month last year. Two sold for more than $4 million. In the previous September, no homes sold for that much.

Of all the $1 million-plus homes that sold in Calgary in July and August, 83 per cent were single-family homes, 14 per cent were attached homes and the remaining three per cent were condominiums.

Is a million-dollar home in Calgary still a luxury?

Don Kottick, president and CEO of Sotheby's International Realty Canada, told CBC News that Calgary is one of the most affordable major markets in Canada.

He said although the company's report is focused on high-end home sales, the factors that affect luxury properties also affect the entire housing market, to varying degrees.

"The whole market is a spectrum, and as we move along, the spectrum of activity in one area impacts another," Kottick said.

As housing prices rise across Canada, a $1-million home can look very different depending where it is in the country, he said.

"We segment the market into the million-plus, and obviously the million-plus still buys a very nice home in the Calgary and Montreal markets. It doesn't buy as much in the Toronto and Vancouver markets," Kottick said. 

It's a sentiment echoed by Calgary real estate broker Jesse Davies, who told CBC News there is no one-size-fits-all answer as to what qualifies as a luxury home in the city.

Davies, team lead of the Jesse Davies Team at Century 21 Bamber Realty, noted luxury is relative to the needs of the person who is looking to buy.

He said factors such as proximity to downtown, green spaces and amenities such as hospitals, schools and public transportation will influence home prices, but certain people don't necessarily desire the things that drive the price of homes upward of $1 million.

"There's obviously certain suburb communities that people actually would prefer to live in than the inner city," Davies said. "Lake communities — obviously your land value is going to be pretty high because everyone kind of wants to be around the lake."

There is a lot of nuance behind the value of a $1-million home that goes beyond its cost, according to Davies. 

Some estate communities in the northwest don't have close proximity to downtown, but they're near the University of Calgary, parks and hospitals, which make them desirable in their own way, he said.

"Some people don't need to commute to the downtown, right? They work from home, and it's more important for them to be around a lot of families," he said. 

Corinne Poffenroth, senior vice-president of sales at Sotheby's International Realty Canada, told CBC News that $1 million can typically buy very different homes depending on which part of the city they are in.

"It's going to typically buy a little bit more in the suburbs than it would in the inner city in some of the higher end neighbourhoods," Poffenroth said.

She added the value of the land the home is on can affect its price.

"For example, you could see a luxury $1,000,000 townhome out in Aspen or Spring Bank Hill, but that would be attached," Poffenroth said.

"Whereas if you go into the inner city, say Elbow Park, you might get an older bungalow for $1.5 million that is pretty much just land value."

If the property backs onto a green space or a lake, even if the home itself isn't very luxurious looking, it may sell for more than $1 million because of its location, real estate agents said. The same applies for homes on land that is highly sought after by developers.

"If it's an attractive piece of land, say in the inner city, that would definitely be one factor in driving the prices up. But I think it also comes back to the amount of population that is moving to Alberta from other provinces," she said.