Richmond

Overview

Richmond, officially part of the combined City of Calgary community of Richmond/Knob Hill, sits in the inner-city southwest quadrant directly west of Marda Loop and South Calgary. The community runs from 17th Avenue SW on the north down to 33rd Avenue SW on the south, with Richmond Road and 25A Street SW forming the western edge and 19th Street SW the eastern one. Crowchild Trail South cuts straight through the middle rather than bounding it, which is part of why Richmond can feel like two halves. The community sits north of Currie and the former CFB Calgary lands across Richmond Road, and it shares its western edge with Killarney and its eastern edge with South Calgary. Like its inner-SW peers, Richmond was built out in the post-war decades on a tight grid of 50-foot lots, and for most of its life it was a quiet community of mid-century bungalows. Over the last fifteen years that has changed faster here than almost anywhere in David’s footprint.

Richmond is today one of inner-SW Calgary’s busiest infill and teardown markets. The original 1950s and 1960s bungalows are continually purchased, demolished, and replaced with modern product, and the dominant new form is the semi-detached duplex: two attached side-by-side homes on what was a single 50-foot lot. The trailing-twelve-month data tells that story plainly. Semi-detached is the single largest segment by transaction count, with 55 sales at a $920,000 median, narrowly ahead of detached at 58 sales. The detached segment itself is increasingly new infill rather than original character stock, running to a $991,250 median and a ceiling above $2.1M for the high-end custom builds. The community reads as a working transition zone: original bungalows, half-finished blocks, and rows of three-year-old infills sharing the same streets.

What pulls buyers here is the combination of brand-new inner-city living at a discount to the Altadore and Marda Loop name on the sign. Richmond is the move-up family and professional buyer’s entry to new-build inner-city living without the premium attached to the addresses a few blocks east. You are a block from the 17th Avenue SW commercial strip, a short walk or cycle from the Marda Loop shops, roughly twelve minutes from downtown, and sitting on top of fast Crowchild and Bow Trail access. The trade-off is that this is a community in the middle of its rebuild rather than a finished, uniform streetscape, and the buyer who wants character permanence will find Richmond’s churn unsettling. The buyer who wants a new home in a proven inner-SW location finds it compelling.

David’s take

The vibe

Richmond reads as an inner-SW community in active transition. Walk any block and you will see the full arc of the community’s rebuild on a single street: an original 1958 bungalow with the owner still in it, an empty lot with a sold sign, a framed-up semi-detached pair, and a finished three-year-old infill with the landscaping just settling in. That churn is the defining texture of the community right now, and it cuts both ways. For buyers who want a new home it signals a healthy, liquid market in their product type. For buyers who want a settled streetscape it reads as unfinished.

The community draws its daily life from its edges rather than an internal commercial core. The 17th Avenue SW strip along the northern boundary is the everyday anchor: groceries, cafes, restaurants, pharmacies, and independent retail within an easy walk or cycle from most Richmond addresses. The Marda Loop commercial node to the southeast adds a denser, more destination-style mix of shops, restaurants, and services that has become one of inner-SW Calgary’s busiest walkable retail districts. Between the two, a Richmond resident covers most of daily life on foot or by bike, which is a meaningful part of why the community commands the prices it does.

The demographic mix has shifted with the housing stock. The original post-war family cohort has largely aged out, and the current resident profile skews toward move-up families and professional couples in the new infill product, with a thinning contingent of long-term bungalow owners and a steady flow of renters in the older stock and the small apartment cluster. Richmond/Knob Hill Park and the green space along the western and southern edges give the community its main outdoor footprint, and the proximity to the Currie redevelopment and the broader inner-SW pathway network extends the daily-life radius beyond the community’s own boundaries.

Housing stock

Richmond’s housing market is defined by its infill cycle, and the single most important thing to understand is that semi-detached duplexes, not detached homes, are the volume product. Over the trailing twelve months the semi-detached segment recorded 55 sales at a $920,000 median, with a range from $520,000 for older or smaller attached stock up to $1,550,000 for premium new builds. These are the modern side-by-side infills built on former single bungalow lots, typically two-storey with developed basements, three or four bedrooms, and new mechanical systems. For the move-up buyer who wants a new inner-city home, the semi is the product the market produces in the most volume and at the most accessible price point.

The detached segment, at 58 sales and a $991,250 median, is increasingly new infill rather than original character stock. The range runs from $677,500 at the entry end up to $2,178,000 for the high-end custom builds, and the spread within the segment is driven almost entirely by whether a given home is an aging bungalow, a renovated bungalow, or a new two-storey infill. The detached infills are the natural step up from the semis for buyers who want the full lot, the larger footprint, and the privacy of a freehold detached home, and the top of the range is where Richmond competes directly with the custom-build markets in Altadore and Marda Loop.

The row and townhouse segment, at 23 sales and a $642,500 median, fills the band below the freehold infills. The range runs from $423,500 to $847,000, spanning older attached product at the entry end and newer three-storey townhouse infills at the upper end. This is the entry point to ownership in Richmond for buyers who prioritise the inner-SW location over a full detached lot, and the segment moved briskly over the trailing year at a 15-day median.

The apartment segment is the thinnest tier and the one to treat with the most caution. Only 6 units sold over the trailing twelve months, at a $321,000 median and a range from $186,500 to $415,000. With a sample that small the median is easily moved by one or two transactions, the time on market ran longer than the freehold tiers, and the sale-to-list discipline is softer. Apartments are the cheapest entry into the community, concentrated in the small cluster of older buildings near the 17th Avenue edge, but condo document due diligence and realistic time-to-sell expectations matter more here than the headline price suggests.

Type	Typical price range	Notes
Apartment	$186K - $415K	6 sales over the last 12 months, median $321,000. Thin segment concentrated in older buildings near the 17th Avenue edge. Median 42 days on market, 93.8% sale-to-list. Small sample; treat the median with caution and weight condo doc due diligence.
Row/Townhouse	$423K - $847K	23 sales, median $642,500. Spans older attached product and newer three-storey townhouse infills. Median 15 days on market, 99.2% sale-to-list. The entry point to ownership in Richmond below the freehold infills.
Semi-Detached	$520K - $1.55M	55 sales, median $920,000. The volume product: modern side-by-side infill duplexes on former single bungalow lots. Median 30 days on market, 98.6% sale-to-list. The most accessible new-build inner-city option in the community.
Detached	$677K - $2.18M	58 sales, median $991,250. Increasingly new infill rather than original bungalow stock. Median 15 days on market, 98.2% sale-to-list. The upper range competes with the Altadore and Marda Loop custom-build markets.

Recent sales

The trailing twelve-month Richmond dataset is 142 sold residential records spanning detached, semi-detached, row/townhouse, and a thin apartment cohort. The blended median across all segments is $883,450, the mean days on market is 38, and the community-wide sale-to-list is 98.3 percent. Detached and semi-detached are nearly even by transaction count and together make up the bulk of the dollar volume; row/townhouse is the next tier by count, and apartments are a small enough cohort to read individually rather than as an aggregate.

Featured recent sales

• 3040 26 Street SW. Detached, year built 1952. Sold April 2026 for $995,000 against a $995,000 list, 100.0% of list, 8 days on market. A clean, fast freehold sale at full list price.
• 2201 30 Avenue SW. Detached, year built 2019. Sold July 2025 for $2,178,000 against a $2,050,000 list, 106.2% of list, 8 days on market. The price ceiling for the community: a premium new infill that sold above list in a week.
• 2317 23 Avenue SW. Semi-Detached, year built 2011. Sold November 2025 for $920,000 against a $949,900 list, 96.9% of list, 44 days on market. Right at the semi-detached median, showing the negotiation room on older infill stock.
• 6, 2220 26 Avenue SW. Row/Townhouse, year built 2024. Sold September 2025 for $642,500 against a $646,000 list, 99.5% of list, 25 days on market. A near-new townhouse sitting right at the segment median.
• 401, 2505 17 Avenue SW. Apartment, year built 2011. Sold August 2025 for $380,000 against a $409,000 list, 92.9% of list, 175 days on market. A slow-mover example: the apartment tier negotiates harder and can sit much longer than the freehold product.
• 2020 25 Avenue SW. Semi-Detached, year built 2022. Sold June 2025 for $1,219,700 against a $1,249,900 list, 97.6% of list, 71 days on market. A premium new semi at the top of the segment, showing that the upper band takes longer to absorb.

Twelve-month aggregates by segment

• Detached. 58 sales. Median sold price $991,250, range $677,500 to $2,178,000. Median 15 days on market, 98.2% sale-to-list. Increasingly new infill rather than original bungalow stock; the wide range reflects the spread between aging bungalows and premium custom builds. The 15-day median is brisk, telling you well-priced detached product moves quickly.
• Semi-Detached. 55 sales. Median sold price $920,000, range $520,000 to $1,550,000. Median 30 days on market, 98.6% sale-to-list. The volume product and the heart of the Richmond market. The 30-day median is longer than the detached and townhouse tiers, which reflects the depth of new-build inventory competing for the same move-up buyer.
• Row/Townhouse. 23 sales. Median sold price $642,500, range $423,500 to $847,000. Median 15 days on market, 99.2% sale-to-list. The tightest sale-to-list in the community and a fast 15-day median, telling you entry-price inner-SW product has real demand.
• Apartment. 6 sales. Median sold price $321,000, range $186,500 to $415,000. Median 42 days on market, 93.8% sale-to-list. A thin segment: with only six sales the median is easily moved, the time on market runs longer, and the softer sale-to-list reflects harder buyer negotiation against older building stock.

Schools

Schools are a working consideration for Richmond families, and the inner-city picture comes with the usual caveat that boundaries can shift and need confirming address by address. Richmond School is the in-community CBE elementary serving most Richmond/Knob Hill addresses, though some western and southern edge addresses are designated to adjacent schools such as Glendale or Altadore as of the 2026-27 year. The likely CBE junior-high pathway is Mount Royal School, with Vincent Massey an alternate inner-west feeder for some addresses. For senior high, Western Canada High School is the designated inner-SW CBE school and offers both IB and French programming, which makes it a strong academic option for students aiming at competitive university admissions.

For Catholic families, St. Monica School in nearby Mission is a common CSSD K-9 option that serves a number of inner-SW communities including the Richmond area, feeding the inner-city Catholic senior high pathway at St. Mary’s High School on 18 Avenue SW. The CSSD manages its boundaries independently of the CBE, so the picture for a Catholic family can differ block by block.

Because Richmond sits in the inner city where boundaries are redrawn more often than in established suburban communities, the CBE Find a School and CSSD Attendance Areas tools are the only reliable way to confirm which schools apply to a specific address. Run them before a purchase if school catchment is part of the decision, rather than relying on the community-level pattern described here.

Getting around

Richmond’s location is one of its strongest selling points, and the road network is shaped by two arterials at its edges. Crowchild Trail on the west side is a high-speed arterial that connects the community north to the University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, and the northwest, and south to Glenmore Trail and the ring road. The 17th Avenue SW corridor along the northern edge is the inner-city connector that carries traffic east into the Beltline and downtown and west toward Killarney and beyond. Between the two, the interior of Richmond is a quiet residential grid with rear-lane access on most blocks, keeping daily-life traffic off the sidewalk.

Downtown is approximately 12 minutes by car outside peak hours via 17th Avenue SW or Bow Trail, which is among the shorter inner-SW commutes in David’s footprint. The University of Calgary and Foothills Medical Centre are both reachable in roughly 10 to 12 minutes via Crowchild Trail north, which makes Richmond a genuinely practical option for the two-career household where one partner works in the core and the other in the university or hospital district. Calgary International Airport is approximately 25 minutes via Crowchild and the connecting routes to Deerfoot Trail.

Transit and active-mode access are strong for an established community. The 17th Avenue SW MAX BRT line runs along the northern boundary with stops at the edge of the community, and several Calgary Transit bus routes connect Richmond to the broader network and to the West LRT at Westbrook a short distance to the northwest. The 17th Avenue and Marda Loop commercial strips are walkable or cyclable from most addresses, and the inner-SW cycling network connects Richmond to the Bow River pathway and the wider city. Most Richmond residents commute by car, and the network supports that pattern well, but the walkable retail and the BRT option give the community genuine car-light flexibility that many inner-SW addresses cannot match.

The honest note on the arterials is the trade-off they bring. Crowchild Trail and 17th Avenue SW are what give Richmond its commute speed and its walkable retail, but properties on the western and northern edges that front or back to those corridors are exposed to arterial noise. The interior grid is quiet residential, and the noise dynamic is contained to the boundary blocks, but it is worth checking each address individually if the lot fronts or backs to Crowchild or 17th Avenue.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Richmond also called Knob Hill?

Richmond and Knob Hill were originally two adjacent communities that the City of Calgary now administers as a single combined community, Richmond/Knob Hill. The official name in City records, MLS designations, and school boundary tools is Richmond/Knob Hill, but most residents and agents use Richmond as the everyday shorthand. If you are searching sold data or school catchments, try both names so you see the full picture.

Is Richmond mostly infill duplexes now?

Largely, yes. Richmond is one of inner-SW Calgary’s busiest teardown markets. Mid-century bungalows on 50-foot lots are continually subdivided and replaced with modern semi-detached pairs, and semi-detached is the single largest segment by transaction count. Over the trailing twelve months there were 55 semi-detached sales at a $920,000 median, compared with 58 detached sales at a $991,250 median. Original bungalows still exist, but most are bought as teardown or major-renovation candidates rather than as long-term character homes.

How much cheaper is Richmond than Altadore or Marda Loop?

Richmond typically trades at a modest discount to Altadore and Marda Loop proper for comparable new-build product, which is the main reason move-up buyers look here. The communities share post-war origins, the same infill cycle, and similar walkability to 17th Avenue and the Marda Loop strip. Altadore and Marda Loop sit closer to River Park, Sandy Beach, and the core Marda Loop commercial node, which carries a name premium. Richmond delivers a very similar brand-new inner-city semi or detached infill for less, which is the trade-off buyers are weighing.

Should I buy a new infill or an original bungalow in Richmond?

Most buyers here are buying new infill, because that is what the market produces. A modern semi-detached infill gives you new mechanical systems, a developed basement, and a move-in-ready home in the $900,000 band. An original bungalow is cheaper on the headline but is usually a teardown or major-renovation play, and the land value plus build cost often lands you near or above a finished infill once the work is honestly priced. Buy the bungalow if you genuinely want to build or fully renovate; buy the finished infill if you want to move in and live. David can walk through the specific math on a property-by-property basis.

What are the school catchments for Richmond?

Richmond School is the in-community CBE elementary for most Richmond/Knob Hill addresses, with some western and southern edge addresses designated to adjacent schools such as Glendale or Altadore as of the 2026-27 year. The likely junior-high pathway is Mount Royal School, with Vincent Massey an alternate inner-west feeder for some addresses. Western Canada High School is the designated senior high and offers IB and French programming. For Catholic families, St. Monica School in Mission is a common K-9 option and St. Mary’s High School on 18 Avenue SW is the senior high. Boundaries shift in inner-city communities, so confirm any specific address against the CBE Find a School and CSSD Attendance Areas tools before relying on a catchment for a purchase decision.

How walkable is Richmond, and how is the commute downtown?

Richmond is genuinely walkable for an established residential community. The 17th Avenue SW commercial strip runs along the northern edge with groceries, cafes, and restaurants, and the Marda Loop shops are a short walk or cycle to the southeast. Downtown is roughly 12 minutes by car outside peak hours via 17th Avenue or Bow Trail, and Crowchild Trail on the west side gives fast access to the University of Calgary and Foothills Medical Centre, both about 10 to 12 minutes. The 17th Avenue SW MAX BRT line and several bus routes serve the area, though most residents commute by car.

Is the Richmond apartment market a good entry point?

It can be, but the segment is thin and you should treat the numbers with caution. Only 6 apartment units sold in the trailing twelve months, at a $321,000 median, and time on market ran longer (a 42-day median, with one unit taking 175 days). With a sample that small, one or two transactions move the median meaningfully, and the sale-to-list discipline is softer than in the detached and townhouse tiers at 93.8 percent. Apartments are the cheapest entry into the community, but condo document due diligence and realistic expectations on time-to-sell matter here.

How disciplined is pricing in Richmond right now?

Disciplined across the freehold tiers and softer in the condo tiers. Detached, semi-detached, and row/townhouse all sold at roughly 98 to 99 percent of list over the trailing twelve months, which tells you well-presented and well-priced freehold product is not leaving much on the table. The apartment segment, at 93.8 percent, is where buyers negotiate harder. Detached and row/townhouse moved fastest at a 15-day median; semi-detached ran a 30-day median, which reflects the volume of new-build inventory competing for the same move-up buyer. For a fuller picture of how Richmond fits the broader SW Calgary quadrant, the inner-SW communities share this pattern of disciplined freehold pricing.

---

Sales data current as of 2026-06-01. Aggregated from a Pillar 9 query for trailing twelve-month sold listings with SubdivisionName=Richmond, City=Calgary; 142 sold residential records between Jun 2025 and May 2026. Source: Pillar 9 MLS® System. Copyright 2026 Pillar 9. All Rights Reserved.

Commute times

Downtown	12 min
University of Calgary	12 min
Foothills Hospital	10 min
Airport (YYC)	25 min