Every December, the Calgary real estate market exhales.
People travel. Families pause. Buyers stop scrolling listings quite so obsessively, and sellers wait for the calendar to turn. Seasonal slowdowns are normal, expected, and baked into the rhythm of real estate. December is never meant to be a full-speed month.
This past December was no different.
Calgary recorded just over 1,000 sales, while new listings came in just under 1,400. Active inventory closed the month at roughly 6,800 homes, which puts the market at just over six months of supply.
On paper, that sounds like balance. Maybe even softness.
But this is where statistics can mislead if they aren’t read properly.
That six-month figure includes everything: all property types, all price ranges, and all locations across the city. Condos, detached homes, entry-level properties, luxury listings, suburban communities, inner-city pockets—it’s all blended into one number. What it does not mean is that every buyer in Calgary is shopping in a market with six months of supply.
And this distinction matters more now than ever.
Calgary is very much a submarket city. Always has always been, but it becomes especially clear when markets correct. Different neighbourhoods, price points, and property types behave very differently under the same economic conditions. Some segments slow dramatically. Others continue to move with urgency.
This is where the so-called “missing middle” shows up. Well-located homes, in established communities, at realistic price points continue to attract buyers—even when the broader market appears quieter. These properties don’t sit. They don’t linger. They create competition while others stall.
That’s why the old advice still holds true: location, location, location. But in today’s market, it’s less a slogan and more a strategy.
For buyers, this means opportunity exists—but only if you understand where demand is holding. For sellers, it means pricing and positioning matter more than timing alone. And for investors, it reinforces a simple truth: market averages rarely tell the full story.
December didn’t signal weakness in Calgary real estate. It highlighted segmentation.
And as we move forward, success won’t come from reacting to headlines or broad statistics. It will come from understanding which pockets are moving, which are correcting, and how to align your decisions with the part of the market that actually matters to you.
In a city like Calgary, clarity is leverage.
