Early real estate findings show Calgary’s housing market heating up

Work is underway as The City of Calgary begins the legislated annual process of preparing the 2022 Property Assessment Roll. City Assessment staff are reviewing real estate data collected from various sources including Alberta Land Titles and from property owners directly to determine market value assessments on more than 550,000 Calgary properties. This annual process begins with the provincially set valuation date of July 1.

“The annual property assessment process is off to another strong start with City staff reviewing data collected from sales and permits reports, and data sources including property owners directly,” said Eddie Lee, Acting City Assessor and Director of Assessment.

From Assessment’s early analysis the COVID-19 impacted real estate market conditions are continuing to trend differently than last year, as Calgarians may expect.

“This year we are noticing that home sales are heating up along with sale prices, as new and existing homeowners are eager to participate in Calgary’s real estate market.” said Lee. “Home sales volume is up more than 45 per cent overall, with a 52 per cent increase in sales of detached properties compared to 25 per cent interested in apartment condominium properties. Like many cities, properties in Calgary’s suburban communities are seeing more interest with home values increasing more than 10 per cent, depending on the specific characteristics and location. We expect market value increases within certain property types in the 2022 Assessments based on the legislated 2021 July 1 valuation date.”

Early findings on Calgary’s non-residential properties are as follows:

• Demand for large format distribution space remains strong. Properties with 100,000 square feet or more of warehouse space increased in value substantially in 2020, as indicated in the 2021 Assessment Roll. We are predicting similar market values for 2022, highlighting market stability.
• Industrial warehouses smaller than 20,000 square feet – many of which are owner occupied – appear to be decreasing in value compared to the previous year.
• High vacancy remains an ongoing concern in the office market which may result in a continued decline in assessed values in 2022.
• Retail property sales transactions increased in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, suggesting there may be increases to retail property assessments in 2022, depending on the property type and location.
• While optimism in the hotel sector is increasing with encouraging vaccination rates and the lifting of restrictions, the impacts from the previous 12 months and the global pandemic are a factor. We expect to see significant decreases in hotel values heading into 2022.

While The City is noting these trends, it is important to remember that now is the time for further analysis. In the coming months Assessment will be collecting and reviewing more market data information and trends. Assessment sent out more than 12,000 direct information requests to non-residential and multi-residential property owners in April. We are now reviewing their rental, vacancy, income and detailed sales transaction information. This information will be used to determine preliminary values which will be shared this fall with owners. We also encourage residential property owners to go online to Assessment Search and update their property details to ensure the data used to determine assessment values remains current. During the Pre-Roll Consultation Period, which occurs in the fall, City assessors exchange further data and trend information with non-residential and multi-residential property owners and/or their agents before final values are determined and assessment notices are mailed in 2022.

Calgarians interested in knowing their 2022 property values are encouraged to keep up to date by: 

• Looking at the real estate sales information around the July 1 valuation date. Consider looking at MLS house price listings to compare similar properties to yours.
• Logging on to Assessment Search, at calgary.ca/assessmentsearch, and review the real estate data on file at The City. The City offers market value real estate information such as the last three years of sales transactions for free to help Calgary property owners better understand property assessments. Access is easy - sign-up for a myID account and begin.
• Making sure the information we have on your property is up to date, which you can conveniently access through your Assessment Search account.

While on Assessment Search, Calgarians may sign-up for eNotices ensuring their 2022 assessment notice is delivered safely and securely in their account. Signing up for eNotices reduces paper waste, reduces our carbon footprint and saves taxpayer dollars. For more information please visit calgary.ca/assessment.

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