Foreclosure listings in Calgary have been climbing since last fall, and this summer they jumped. We pulled every foreclosure listing on the Calgary MLS going back to September 2023 to see how big the change really is. Here is what we found, and what we are telling buyers and owners about it.
We have sold hundreds of foreclosures over the years. If you want the full explanation of how a foreclosure works in Alberta, the three types of sale, and where buyers get caught, that lives on our Calgary foreclosures page. This post is about what is happening right now.
What the numbers say
New foreclosure listings in Calgary, counted by list date, twelve months to early September:
- 2024: 135
- 2025: 94
- 2026: 177
The change is easier to see in the summer. New foreclosure listings, June through August:
- 2024: 19
- 2025: 21
- 2026: 59
As of September 3, 2026: 90 foreclosure listings active in Calgary, Alberta, and 107 sold in the previous twelve months.
What the last twelve months of listings were:
- Detached houses: 90
- Apartment condos: 71
- Townhouses and duplexes: 36
The condo shift shows up when you compare what sold with what is listed now. Apartments were 27% of the year’s sales and are 47% of what is on the market today.
What they sold for (median):
- All foreclosures: $475,000
- Detached: $567,500
- Apartment condo: $255,000
- Townhouse: $287,500
Twenty-four listings were under $200,000. Twenty were over $800,000.
How fast they sold:
- Median: 54 days on market
- One in five took more than 90 days
- One in nine sold within two weeks
Source: CREB MLS data, all Calgary foreclosure listings, September 2023 to September 3, 2026. Counts include listings that sold or are currently active, so earlier years miss anything that expired without selling.
Why there were so few foreclosures in 2024, and why that changed
When prices are rising, an owner in trouble can usually sell before the bank gets involved. That is what happened through 2024 and into 2025. Most people who fell behind could list, sell at a gain and move on, so the bank never took the keys.
Prices have softened since 2025, especially in apartment and townhome condos, and the Calgary market update has the benchmark numbers behind that. When a home is worth less than the mortgage on it, the owner cannot sell their way out. That is when the property goes back to the lender.
In the foreclosures we are seeing now, the pattern is a purchase near the peak, a softer market since, and a mortgage that is now bigger than the home is worth. A lot of these are well-kept homes. The owners hit a hard stretch, and the house itself is often in better shape than people expect.
What this means if you are buying
More foreclosure listings means more to choose from than at any point in the last three years. It does not mean bargains, and we say that part a lot.
Over the last twelve months, Calgary foreclosures sold at a median of 95.5% of their original asking price, and 33 of the 107 sales closed at or above the original asking. The court’s job is to get fair market value for whatever equity the owner has left, so a judge will not approve a giveaway. The real advantage is that fewer buyers are willing to deal with the process, and that you can walk away when a property is not worth the risk.
Four things we tell every foreclosure buyer:
- The offer is different. The bank or the court sells as is, where is, with no warranties and far less disclosure than a normal sale. Bank-owned sales sometimes allow a financing condition; judicial sales allow none, and inspections are rarely allowed either way. Do your homework before you write the offer, because there is no window to do it afterward.
- On a judicial sale, the owner may still be living there. In Art’s words: “You only get to find out what you actually purchased on the day of possession.” Buy it at a price that allows for that.
- Court day has its own rules. Competing offers can be presented on the day, and a judge can send everyone away for a week and call for sealed bids. Art attends court on our buyers’ behalf to present the offer and deal with whatever the judge decides. Very few agents know to do that.
- Send us the listing before you offer. Most of what we do on foreclosures is tell people which ones are worth pursuing. There is no charge for that, and it has saved a lot of people from expensive mistakes.
If you want to see new foreclosure listings the day they come out, we set buyers up with a custom MLS search that emails you when one is listed in your price range and areas. Ask us and we will build it. It takes about ten minutes. New to buying altogether? Start with the home buying guide first.
What this means if you are behind on your mortgage
If the lender has started proceedings, there are usually more options than people expect, and the timing matters. Selling before the process finishes generally protects more of your equity than letting it run.
Art has worked directly with many of the foreclosure lawyers in Calgary and the lawyers the banks hire. That conversation can buy time, and for some owners it has opened the door to a short sale or a better structure than the bank’s schedule would have produced. The conversation is confidential and there is no cost to have it. A free home evaluation is the right first step, because every option starts with knowing what the home is worth today.
The short version
Foreclosure listings in Calgary have roughly doubled year over year and ran close to triple this summer. Condos are a growing share. Sold prices are holding at about 95% of asking, so the opportunity is in having more to choose from and doing the homework early.
We will pull these numbers again in the new year and update this post. In the meantime, the full guide to buying or selling a foreclosure in Calgary is on our Calgary foreclosures page, and if you want a specific listing looked at before you write anything, send it to us.
Frequently asked questions about Calgary foreclosures
Yes, but usually not by as much as buyers expect. Foreclosures are sold as is, where is, with no warranties or representations from the bank or the court, and the price reflects that risk. Over the twelve months to September 3, 2026, Calgary foreclosures still sold at a median of 95.5% of original asking (CREB MLS data). The process also takes more time and more understanding of the risks than a normal purchase.
As of September 3, 2026, there were 90 active foreclosure listings in Calgary. There were 177 new foreclosure listings in the previous twelve months, up from 94 the year before (CREB MLS data).
It depends on the type of sale. On a bank-owned foreclosure you can usually include a financing condition, though it is better to have financing arranged before you write. Inspections are rarely allowed. On a judicial sale there are no conditions on the offer, so financing is coordinated ahead of the court date. Art attends court on our buyers’ behalf to present the offer, which very few agents know to do.