Calgary Selling City-Owned Land for Affordable Housing

The City of Calgary is offering three parcels of city-owned land for sale to non-profit organizations for the development of affordable housing units.

The city announced this week that the sites will be priced below market value, part of an ongoing initiative known as the Non-Market Housing Land Sale program.

The land sites are located in the Bowness, Parkdale and Erlton neighborhoods of Calgary, which are in proximity to transit, grocery stores and employment agencies.

Calgary’s Non-Market Housing Land Sale program aims to help non-profit organizations develop affordable housing at a discounted rate. It also provides more resources and support services for the residents of affordable housing.

“With one in five Calgary families in need of affordable housing, all orders of government, non-profits and industry must respond with urgency,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said, in a statement.

“This will move more Calgarians from precarious living situations to safe homes, close to community amenities,” Gondek added.

The Non-Market Housing Land Sale program was launched in 2018; the current land offer is its third round. According to city officials, 280 homes have either been completed or under construction from the first two rounds of land offerings, in 2018 and 2020.

Applications to purchase the site being offered in the third round will be accepted until April 28. Applicants must be non-profit providers with experience in the supply and management of non-market housing.

Successful applicants are required to go through a development permit and land-use amendment approval process before starting construction. The permitting process includes a community engagement requirement.

Calgary is planning policy changes that will open up more city-owned land for the program, which is the central element of Calgary’s Corporate Affordable Housing Strategy.

The city said it also is preparing new policies that will support Indigenous-led housing initiatives.

According to WOWA.ca, the average home price in Calgary decreased by 1% in February to $380K. Home sales in the city in Alberta increased by 45% in February, encompassing 1,740 units, but that still represented a YOY decline of 47%.

“Average home prices do not show the true extent of price changes because of the substitution effect. When increases in home prices or mortgage rates reduce consumers’ buying power, they shift their purchases to more affordable options,” WOWA’s report said.

The composition of homes in the Calgary real estate market is shifting toward condos and townhouses, away from detached and semi-detached houses, the report said. Average condo apartment prices in Calgary increased by 2.4% YOY in February to $211K.