The streak continues: the seasonally-adjusted price of a benchmark home* on the resale market in Alberta increased for the 22nd month in a row in September.

On a year-over-year (y/y) basis, the provincial benchmark price of $513,700 was 6.7% higher than the same month last year.

In Calgary, the y/y benchmark price was up 6.3% to $583,100 in September; in Edmonton, it increased by 7.5% to $399,300.

While prices have been rising steadily in Alberta since the end of 2022, the national average has lost ground. At $718,200 in September, the national benchmark price was 3.6% lower than 12 months earlier.

Of the six metro areas in Canada with a population of over one million, three posted y/y price increases in September (Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal) and three posted declines (Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa).

The price gap in favour of the national benchmark versus the Alberta benchmark has gone from a peak of $379,500 in February 2022 to $204,500 in September 2024.

Although actual prices vary from community to community and depend on a wide range of factors, the benchmark prices point to three key things: 1) the relative affordability of house prices in Alberta’s two largest cities compared to markets such as Toronto and Vancouver; 2) the trend toward higher prices in Alberta has reduced—but not eliminated—Alberta’s affordability advantage; 3) and lower benchmark prices in Edmonton make it a more affordable market than Calgary.

Although builders have picked up the pace of new home construction in the province, relatively strong population growth in Alberta means the supply challenge is not going away any time soon.

*The Canadian Real Estate Association calculates the average price of benchmark homes in various markets (including Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton) using the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI). The HPI is based on the value home buyers assign to various housing attributes, which tend to evolve gradually over time. It therefore provides an “apples to apples” comparison of home prices across the entire country. Each month, the HPI uses more than 15 years of MLS® System data and sophisticated statistical models to define a “typical” home based on the features of homes that have been bought and sold. These benchmark homes are tracked across Canadian neighbourhoods and different types of houses.

Answer to the previous trivia question: British Columbia had the highest inflation rate of any province in September at 2.0% (the national average was 1.6%).

Today’s trivia question: When was the window tax first imposed in England? (The window tax was paid based on the number of windows in a house.)