![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/70c8fc80.png\")
<\/p>\nAfter years of a severe housing shortage and many buyers being shut out of the market, the times are changing in Canada\u2019s housing sector.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As Calgary realtors Anna Kaufman and Rut Kaufman-Aronovich were gearing up for a busy weekend of showing houses, they told Global News a new kind of clientele is emerging.<\/p>\n
A few years ago, the new side-by-side in the community of Logan Landing that they were showing off on Friday would have attracted buyers aiming to upsize from a condo or buyers looking for an investment property to rent.<\/p>\n
But Kaufman-Aronovich said it\u2019s now attracting a new kind of buyer.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re now seeing a lot more new buyers who\u2019ve never been in the market before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Realtors say the federal government\u2019s GST rebate for first-time home buyers and a softening of the rental market are the big reasons for the change.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows rental inventory is on the upswing in Calgary \u2014 with 3,100 available units in March.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a 15 per cent increase from a year ago and the situation is similar in other large Canadian cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of time it\u2019s taking to find tenants has greatly increased to about 45 days,\u201d explained Shamon Kuresh, of the Calgary Residential Rental Association.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"Get](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767930311_275_national.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve found the vacancy rate has increased drastically, now sitting at about five and a half per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, the average rental price is down by nearly the same rate in Calgary, sitting just below $1,800.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the number of homes for sale in Calgary has increased at the same time rental rates are on the decline.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
And Calgary\u2019s rent-to-income ratio is lower than other comparable markets, like Edmonton or Vancouver.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy rent when you can own?\u201d asked realtor, Len T. Wong. \u201cYou\u2019re seeing some of those people get into the marketplace (and) interest rates right now are pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wong, who\u2019s spent years working in the local real-estate market, said it\u2019s also opening up more inventory because \u201ca lot of the people who were buying for investment purposes aren\u2019t getting the same rate of return (so) now they\u2019re selling the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s opening up opportunities for people who might not have thought it was possible.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe Canada The Canada and Housing Corporation says there are approximately 15 per cent more listings in Calgary this month than during the same month last year.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super exciting,\u201d Kaufman Aronovich said.\u00a0\u201cBefore, we\u2019d be looking at a townhome, maybe a condo, depending on what part of the city you\u2019re in. But now you can go down to a suburb, they have a front yard, they have a back yard.\u201d<\/p>\n
While industry experts don\u2019t have a crystal ball to predict how long the correction in the market will continue, Kaufman has some advice for those thinking of taking the leap.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
\u201cPrices might go up, prices might go down, but the time might be perfect for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/calgary_housing.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:00
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalgary housing market shifting to be more balanced\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After years of a severe housing shortage and many buyers being shut out of the market, the times…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,204501,218056,48,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-565708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-calgary-housing-market","11":"tag-calgary-rental-market","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}