Did Calgary Sellers Miss Their Window?
Calgary homeowners who didn’t sell at the 2022 price peak often feel stuck, convinced they missed their one best opportunity. But most sellers who bought before 2020 still hold significant equity — in many cases, $150,000 to $350,000 more than what they paid. The question isn’t whether the market is off its peak; it’s whether your current equity, life stage, and financial position make selling the right move. For most Calgary sellers, the numbers still work — just not in the way they expected.
By Steve Kabachia | June 21, 2026
I hear it at least once a month. A homeowner sits down across from me, mentions a sold sign down the street, and says some version of the same thing: “My neighbour got $875,000 in March 2022. Similar homes are selling for $715,000 now. I missed it.”
And they’re right — in the narrowest, most literal sense. The spring of 2022 was the peak of a once-in-a-generation run. Inventory dried up. Buyers were desperate. Multiple offers were so common that some sellers didn’t even bother to counter. It was a seller’s market unlike anything Calgary had seen in a generation.
But here’s what I’ve noticed: the sellers who feel worst about missing the peak aren’t the ones who are hurting financially. They’re the ones comparing their position to an impossibly perfect moment — and letting that comparison freeze them in place.
That’s the pattern I want to name today, because I think it’s holding a lot of good Calgary sellers back from a move that still makes sense.
The Peak that Lives Rent-Free in Your Head
Real estate researchers and behavioural economists have a name for what happens when sellers anchor to the highest price they could have received: loss aversion anchoring. You watched your neighbourhood hit record prices. You heard what your neighbour got. A number lodged in your brain — the $850,000 benchmark, the spring 2022 peak, the price the agent quoted you when you weren’t quite ready — and that number became the measure you hold every future offer against.
Every CREB headline showing a lower benchmark feels like confirmation: you waited too long. You made the wrong call. You missed it.
The problem with this framing is that it treats 2022 as the only reference point that matters — and ignores the one that actually does: what you paid for the home in the first place.
What Your Equity Actually Looks Like
Let me give you some numbers to work with.
If you bought a detached home in Calgary in 2017 — when the city’s benchmark detached price was roughly $480,000 — here’s a reasonable picture of where you stand today:
– Your approximate 2022 peak value: $750,000–$800,000
– Your approximate value today: $680,000–$730,000 (varies by community, condition, and property type)
– What you paid: $480,000
– Your equity gain from purchase price, even today: $200,000–$250,000
You didn’t miss the market. You’re still sitting on one of the best investments most people make in their lifetime.
The seller down the street who listed at peak and got an extra $75,000 over today’s prices had a great outcome. So will you — just not an identically great one. That difference, real as it is, shouldn’t determine whether you stay put for the next five years.
To see what your net proceeds would actually look like after costs — commission, lawyer fees, land title transfer fees, and any mortgage penalty — the cost-to-sell guide we put together for Calgary sellers walks through the full picture. The number most sellers land on is better than they expected.
[Link: https://calgaryluxuryhomesearch.com/home-owners-hub/cost-to-sell-house-calgary-2026/]
The Cost of Waiting that Nobody Talks About
Here’s what I find myself saying more often in 2026 than I ever have before: the cost of not selling doesn’t show up on anyone’s spreadsheet, but it’s real.
Every year you stay put, waiting for prices to return to a peak that may or may not come, you’re paying:
– Carrying costs. Your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. In Calgary, those costs run $3,000–$5,000 per month on a $650,000 home with a typical five-year fixed mortgage — more if you have a variable rate or a recent renewal.
– Life stage costs. If you need more space, less space, or a different community — if your commute has changed, your kids have left, or your family situation has shifted — you’re paying for the wrong house every single month.
– Next-home costs. If you’re planning to move up, the math often gets better in a rebalanced market, not worse. When your current home’s value dips, so does the one you’re buying into. The spread between what you’ll sell for and what you’ll pay often compresses in your favour.
I’ve had this conversation with sellers across Calgary, Airdrie, and Okotoks, and the honest truth is almost always the same: the financial case for waiting is considerably weaker than it feels in the moment.
If you’re a move-up seller specifically — trying to figure out whether to sell first or buy first — the 2026 guide on sequencing your Calgary move covers the mechanics of bridge financing, possession date alignment, and how to structure the transition so you’re not caught holding two properties at once.
[Link: https://calgaryluxuryhomesearch.com/home-owners-hub/should-you-sell-before-you-buy-calgary/]
When “Not Yet” Becomes “Never”
Here’s what I’ve seen happen to sellers who wait for peak prices to return: they keep moving the goalposts.
In 2023, they were waiting for spring. In 2024, they were waiting for rate cuts. In 2025, they were waiting for inventory to tighten. In 2026, they’re still waiting for something — something that never quite arrives on schedule.
Markets move in cycles, and Calgary’s market will have another strong run — it always has. But the 2022 peak happened because of a specific, unrepeatable set of conditions: a post-pandemic demand surge, near-zero interest rates held artificially low, and a supply shock that caught the entire country off guard. Waiting for that exact combination to repeat is a strategy built on hoping for a particular kind of weather.
The more honest question isn’t “when will prices get back to peak?” It’s this: what would I do with the equity I already have?
If you’d use it to downsize and retire more comfortably. To buy in a community that fits your life better. To make a move you’ve been delaying because the timing never felt perfect. That’s not a missed opportunity — that’s a move that still makes sense.
CREB’s own 2026 Calgary market forecast projects continued stability in the detached segment — not a return to peak frenzy, but not a collapse either. A functional market where well-priced homes sell within reasonable timeframes. That’s actually a better environment for sellers who want a predictable outcome, not a bidding-war lottery.
[Link: https://calgaryluxuryhomesearch.com/home-owners-hub/2026-calgary-market-forecast/]
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Calgary home prices return to 2022 peak levels?
Possibly — but the conditions that created the 2022 peak (near-zero interest rates, pandemic-era demand surge, and severe supply constraints) are unlikely to repeat in the same form. Calgary’s market has been more resilient than Toronto or Vancouver during the correction, and detached home prices have held up well. Timing a sale around a hoped-for return to peak is not a sound financial strategy for most sellers.
How much equity do most Calgary sellers have if they bought before 2020?
This depends on your purchase price, community, and property type, but most homeowners who bought detached homes in Calgary between 2015 and 2020 are still sitting on $150,000 to $350,000 in equity gains — even at today’s prices, which remain significantly above pre-2021 levels. A proper home evaluation is the only way to know your specific number.
What’s the real cost of waiting another year to sell in Calgary?
Carrying costs on a typical Calgary home run $3,000–$5,000 per month when you factor in mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. If you’re in the wrong house for your life stage, you’re paying that cost for a situation that doesn’t fit — and your next home isn’t getting any cheaper while you wait. In most cases, the annual cost of staying put exceeds the realistic upside of a potential price recovery.
Is it still a good time to sell in Calgary in 2026?
The Calgary market in 2026 is a functional, reasonably stable environment for detached home sellers — especially in established communities. Pricing matters more than it did in 2021, but well-prepared homes in good condition are selling within reasonable timeframes. If your life and finances make selling the right move, today’s market can execute it.
How do I know what my Calgary home is actually worth in today’s market?
The only accurate answer comes from a proper comparative market analysis — a review of recent sales of comparable homes in your neighbourhood, adjusted for condition, updates, lot size, and timing. Online estimates are unreliable in Calgary’s two-tier market. An evaluation with a local agent who knows the nuances of your specific community will give you the number you can actually plan around.
Peak regret is real, and I’ve never once dismissed a seller who feels it. But the number that should matter to you isn’t what your neighbour got in March 2022 — it’s what you’d net today, what it costs to stay, and what your life looks like on the other side of the move.
If you want to know what your home is worth in today’s Calgary market, I offer a free, no-obligation home evaluation. No pressure — just a straight answer so you can make the right call.
Book your free home evaluation here.
If you’re a buyer trying to figure out where the opportunities are right now and how to position an offer — I’d be glad to walk through it with you.
Book a free buyer consultation here.
About Steve Kabachia
Steve Kabachia is a Managing Partner at Len T. Wong & Associates — RE/MAX Complete Realty, serving Calgary and the surrounding communities of Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, and Chestermere. With 10 years of experience specializing in move-up buyers, downsizers, luxury properties, and investment real estate, Steve brings the kind of straight talk his clients count on — whether they’re pricing a home to sell or navigating a complex purchase. He starts where you are and takes the journey alongside you. Connect with Steve at stevekabachia.com or reach him directly at 587-437-9017.
