How Much Money Do You Need to Afford Living in Calgary?

What is the Cost of Buying a Home in Calgary? It All Depends...

If you’re thinking about buying a home somewhere in Calgary sometime soon, then surely you’ll want to look at these maps done by Zoocasa in 2018 and MoneySense in 2021.

Unless you spend some serious time analyzing the Calgary Real Estate Board’s (CREB®) reports, it can be somewhat difficult to determine just how much money you need to afford buying a home in different parts of Calgary.

Thankfully, these colour-coded maps by Zoocasa below clearly indicate the relationship between property types, sectors of the city and average minimum cost – or average income needed to be able to afford a home in that area (important word: average). These numbers were generated using CREB’s June 2018 monthly market update. Meanwhile, the maps by MoneySense indicate the average cost of a detached single-family home in various radial distances from Calgary's city centre.

Calgary still has affordable product for low income earners in most sectors compared to other major metropolitan areas in Canada. For example, a row house in the East District is estimated to require an average minimum salary of $26,374 – or about $13.50 per hour.

Something to keep in mind is that in many cases a household will have more than one person living within and as a result additional income to pay the bills anyways. These figures aren't the end all, be all by any means.

If you're wondering if you can afford a home you want, it's a good idea to get pre-approved for a mortgage as the first step. Also see What Documents Do I Need for a Mortgage Pre-Approval?

Mandatory Salary to Live in Calgary

Key Points from Zoocasa:

• Minimum average income needed to afford living in any area of Calgary is $26,327 (row home in the east sector)
• Minimum average income needed to afford living in the most expensive sector of Calgary is $116,960 (semi-detached home in the city centre)
• Most affordable homes are in the east and northeast sectors
• Most expensive homes are in the city centre and west sector
• Apartments are the most affordable type of product across the city, then row houses, semi-detached houses and finally detached houses
• Apartment affordability in least to most expensive order: east, north, northeast, south, northwest, west, southeast, city centre
• Row housing affordability in least to most expensive order: east, northeast, north, south, southeast, northwest, west, city centre
• Semi-detached housing affordability in least to most expensive order: east, northeast, north, southeast, south, northwest, west, city centre
• Detached housing affordability in least to most expensive order: east, northeast, north, southeast, south, northwest, city centre, west

*Note: all figures are averages, therefore true minimum salary needed to afford various product in various sectors may vary

Average Cost of Homes in Calgary

A more recent analysis of home prices in Calgary by MoneySense Magazine found the average prices of single-family properties relative to their distance from the City Centre.

Key Points from MoneySense:

• $761,966 is the average price of a single-family detached home within 10 minutes from downtown
• $574,956 is the average price of a single-family detached home within 20 minutes from downtown
• $571,859 is the average cost of a detached single-family home within 30 minutes from downtown, also in the Chestermere area of the CMA
• $561,631 is the average cost of a detached single-family home within 40 minutes from downtown, a distance where you'll find both Cochrane on the northwest and Okotoks on the south
• $501,557 is the average cost of a single-family detached home within 50 minutes from the city centre, also where you'll find the High River municipality
• $430,202 is the average cost of the same home but an hour's drive away from Calgary's downtown core

Home Buyer Guides

• 7 Reasons Why Owning a Home is Better than Renting
• 7 Reasons Why Living in Calgary is Awesome
• Calgary First-Time Home Buyers Guide

Questions about Buying a Home in Calgary?

As highly experienced REMAX real estate agents and REALTORS® in Calgary, we guarantee to provide you with the best service, advice and representation while taking care of all the details for you throughout your next transaction.

Call us anytime at 403-370-4180 or send a message for a quick, if not immediate response. I am looking forward to helping you accomplish your real estate goals in Calgary!