“What should we offer?” is where every buyer ends up once they find a home they want. The rules of thumb online say things like “offer 5 per cent under.” Most of them skip the one thing you actually know about a home when you write the offer, which is how long it has been for sale.
So I went and looked. In the 12 months to August 31, 2026, 20,962 Calgary homes sold. Here is what they sold for against their asking price, grouped by how long each one took to sell.
The short answer
The typical Calgary home sold for 97.8 per cent of its asking price, about $10,100 under. Of all sales, 88.0 per cent went for 95 per cent of asking or more, and 1.0 per cent sold for more than 10 per cent under.
If you want one number, that is it. The trouble with one number is that it blends a home that sold in its first week with a home that sat all season, and those are not the same negotiation.
What Calgary homes sold for, by how long they took to sell
| Time to sell | Share of sales | Typical sale price, % of asking | Sold at or above asking | Sold more than 5% under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First week (0 to 7 days) | 7.8% | 100.0% | 65.0% | 4.5% |
| Second week (8 to 14 days) | 16.7% | 99.2% | 38.0% | 3.6% |
| 15 to 30 days | 28.4% | 97.8% | 11.9% | 9.3% |
| 31 to 60 days | 25.5% | 97.3% | 7.0% | 16.1% |
| 61 to 90 days | 12.4% | 97.0% | 6.1% | 18.3% |
| Over 90 days | 9.3% | 96.9% | 9.5% | 22.3% |
Calgary residential sales that closed between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026, grouped by how long each home took to sell, not how long it had been listed when an offer came in. “Typical” is the median. The asking price is the last one before the sale. Source: Pillar 9 MLS data, retrieved September 21, 2026.
Homes that sold in their first week went for a typical 100.0 per cent of asking. Of those, 65.0 per cent sold at or above the asking price and 51.9 per cent sold over it. For those homes, the asking price was the floor more often than not.
The second week was already different: a typical 99.2 per cent, with 38.0 per cent at or above asking. By the third and fourth weeks the typical home sold for 97.8 per cent of asking, and only 11.9 per cent reached it.
Then it slows down. Homes that took one to two months sold for a typical 97.3 per cent of asking. Two to three months, 97.0 per cent. Longer than that, 96.9 per cent. Most of the gap opened in the first month. What kept changing after that was the low end: the share of homes selling for more than 5 per cent under went from 9.3 per cent at 15 to 30 days to 16.1, 18.3 and 22.3 per cent in the slower groups.
Even so, the slow end mostly sold close to asking. Of the homes that took more than 90 days to sell, 77.7 per cent sold for 95 per cent of their asking price or more, and 2.4 per cent sold for more than 10 per cent under.
Two things the tables do not show
The gap is measured against the last asking price. If the seller cut the price along the way, that cut is not in the gap. A home in the 61-to-90-day row selling for 97 per cent of asking may be selling for 97 per cent of a price that has already come down. Ask for the listing’s price history before you write.
The day count starts over when a home is relisted. A listing that shows six days on market may be on its second try. The history shows that too.
Detached, semi, row and apartment are four different answers
| Type | Sold in first week | 15 to 30 days | 61 to 90 days | Over 90 days | Sold more than 5% under, all sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 100.6% | 98.0% | 97.1% | 97.0% | 9.8% |
| Semi-detached | 100.0% | 98.1% | 97.4% | 97.5% | 7.7% |
| Row / townhouse | 99.9% | 98.0% | 97.4% | 97.2% | 9.6% |
| Apartment | 99.1% | 97.3% | 96.5% | 96.3% | 21.5% |
Typical sale price as a percentage of the last asking price, by how long the home took to sell. Same sales, same period and same source as the table above.
Detached homes were the most competitive early. Of all detached sales, 11.3 per cent happened in the first week, and of those, 68.8 per cent sold at or above asking and 57.9 per cent sold over it. At the other end, a detached home that took two to three months to sell went for a typical $20,000 under its asking price.
Apartments are where a buyer has the most room. Even in the first week, the typical apartment sold for 99.1 per cent of asking, and only 2.7 per cent of apartment sales happened that fast. Across all apartment sales, 21.5 per cent went for more than 5 per cent under. For apartments that took more than 90 days it was 31.0 per cent, and 3.3 per cent sold for more than 10 per cent under. That matches the supply picture: CREB’s August 2026 figures put apartments at 5.68 months of supply, against 3.39 for detached homes. The August market report has the detail, and the condo post covers what to check before you buy one.
Semi-detached homes had the fewest sales far below asking. Of semi-detached sales, 7.7 per cent sold for more than 5 per cent under, the lowest of the four types, and semis that took more than 90 days still sold for a typical 97.5 per cent. Semi-detached was also the only property type in Calgary whose benchmark price was up year over year in August.
Row and townhouses sat in between. Half of the ones that sold in their first week went at or above asking. After that their typical figures stayed close to detached and semi-detached homes.
If you are buying a detached home in the southwest
A bigger share of southwest detached homes sold in their first week: 16.3 per cent of SW detached sales, against 11.3 per cent citywide. Those first-week SW sales went for a typical 101.3 per cent of asking, 75.3 per cent sold at or above asking, and 63.0 per cent sold over it. A SW detached home that took two to three months sold for a typical 97.2 per cent, close to the citywide figure.
The edge fades fast. Of SW detached homes that sold in their second week, 44.1 per cent went at or above asking.
This summer showed the same pattern
Sales have slowed. CREB reported August 2026 sales down 16.4 per cent from a year earlier. The negotiation did not change shape, though. Among homes that closed from June to August 2026 alone, the ones that sold in their first week went for a typical 100.1 per cent of asking, and the ones that took two to three months went for 96.9 per cent. For detached homes, the first-week figure was 101.0 per cent, with 71.4 per cent selling at or above asking.
How to use this when you write an offer
Base the price on comparable sales, not the asking price. The asking price is the seller’s number. The tables tell you how far from that number homes like this one tended to close. They do not tell you what this home is worth. The closest comparable sales do that.
Find out how long it has been listed, and get the history. The first listing date, any price changes, and any earlier listing of the same address. The day count on the listing will not show you the last two.
Place the home in the table for its type. Of detached homes that sold in their first week, 68.8 per cent went at or above asking. An apartment that took two to three months to sell: the typical one sold for 96.5 per cent of asking, and 28.1 per cent sold for more than 5 per cent under.
Price is one term of several. Your conditions, deposit and possession date are part of what the seller is weighing.
And if you are thinking about 10 per cent under: you can offer it. Just know that 1.0 per cent of Calgary sales closed more than 10 per cent under, and even among homes that took more than 90 days, 2.4 per cent did. An offer that low starts the conversation below where almost every sale ended.
Common questions
How much under asking should I offer on a house in Calgary?
It depends a lot on how long the home has been listed. Over the 12 months to August 2026, the typical Calgary home sold for 97.8 per cent of its asking price, and 88.0 per cent sold for 95 per cent of asking or more. Homes that sold in their first week went for a typical 100.0 per cent of asking. Homes that took 15 to 30 days sold for 97.8 per cent, and after that the typical figure moved more slowly: 97.3 per cent at one to two months, 96.9 per cent past 90 days. The share selling for more than 5 per cent under kept rising, from 9.3 per cent at 15 to 30 days to 22.3 per cent past 90 days. Base your price on what comparable homes sold for, then use the days on market to judge how much room is left.
Do Calgary homes sell over asking?
Some do, mostly in their first two weeks. Over the 12 months to August 2026, 18.2 per cent of Calgary homes sold at or above asking and 11.8 per cent sold over it. Among homes that sold in their first week, 65.0 per cent went at or above asking and 51.9 per cent went over. For detached homes in their first week, those figures were 68.8 and 57.9 per cent. Among Calgary homes that took more than a month to sell, fewer than 1 in 10 went at or above asking.
Is it reasonable to offer 10 per cent under asking in Calgary?
You can offer whatever you like, but 10 per cent under is below where almost every Calgary sale ended. Over the 12 months to August 2026, 1.0 per cent of Calgary homes sold for more than 10 per cent under their asking price. Among homes that took more than 90 days to sell it was 2.4 per cent, and for apartments in that group 3.3 per cent. A realistic target comes from comparable sales and the condition of the home, not from a fixed percentage.
Does it matter how long a Calgary home has been listed when I make an offer?
Yes, mostly during the first month. Calgary homes that sold in their first week went for a typical 100.0 per cent of asking, in their second week 99.2 per cent, and at 15 to 30 days 97.8 per cent. After a month the typical gap grew more slowly: 97.3, 97.0 and 96.9 per cent for homes that took one to two months, two to three months, and longer, though the share selling for more than 5 per cent under kept rising. These figures compare the sale price with the last asking price, so any price cut the seller already made is not in the gap. Ask for the listing’s price history, and check whether it was listed before, because the day count starts over when a home is relisted.
Is there more room to negotiate on a Calgary condo?
On apartment condos, yes. Over the 12 months to August 2026, Calgary apartments sold for a typical 97.0 per cent of asking, and 21.5 per cent sold for more than 5 per cent under, against 9.8 per cent of detached homes. Apartments that took more than 90 days sold for a typical 96.3 per cent, and 31.0 per cent of them went for more than 5 per cent under. CREB’s August 2026 figures put apartment supply at 5.68 months, against 3.39 for detached homes.
Looking at a home and not sure what to offer?
Send me the listing. I'll pull the comparable sales and the listing history and tell you where I think the price should land. You don't have to buy through me to ask.
