RBC Report Says Calgary Housing Boom Continues Despite Affordability Issues

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A latest RBC Economics Research report has revealed that Calgary’s housing boom has not ended after it set home resale records in both the second and third quarters of this year, although it is not having a major impact on housing affordability.

The Housing Trends and Affordability Report, released on Wednesday, pointed out that homebuyers demand in the city has been strong and rising for some time. However, the latest bump-up in activity may be attributed to a sharp rise in new listings. Senior vice-president and chief economist with RBC, Craig Wright, mentioned that “demand for housing still outweighed supply in Calgary meaning prices in the city continued to rise at the fastest pace across Canada.” Wright stated “at the same time, high and rising household incomes have been keeping housing in Calgary relatively affordable for potential buyers.”

According to the report, the latest figures are signaling Calgary to have a better housing affordability conditions in comparison to its own historical norms and to other Canadian cities. The report said that the stunted growth took place despite affordability measures rising in all housing categories, i.e. up 0.4 percentage points to 34.3 per cent for two-storey homes, up 0.6 percentage points to 34.2 per cent for bungalows and up 0.3 percentage points to 20.1 per cent for condo apartments.  The RBC housing affordability measures capture the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home at market value.