Purpose-built rental apartments have become Calgary’s top-performing real estate assets, says a Re/Max report.

“The influx of inter-provincial migration and immigrants is challenging the city’s housing stock, with vacancy rates at the lowest level in a decade,” states the report.

Calgary’s population rose by just over 200,000 in 2023, creating unprecedented housing demand. More than 3,000 new units came on stream during the decade with new deliveries in the Beltline, Downtown and the North Hill areas.

The Re/Max report praises the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for spurring the growth through new policies and incentives.

“Purpose-built rental apartment starts have overtaken condo starts for the first time in 2023,” said Re/Max. “The CMHC was instrumental in the shift, offering low interest rates, nominal down payments, and long amortization periods to builders and developers who answered the call in abundance, especially after the federal government cancelled the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on new builds.”

Re/Max also credits the surge in purpose-built rental development for helping to reduce office vacancy, noting that Calgary is leading the country in office-to-residential conversions with 17 projects under development.

Canadian commercial real estate demand is shifting due to the country’s housing crisis, says the report, which shows that multi-family and industrial are the top-performing assets in 12 markets surveyed.

Christopher Alexander, Re/Max Canada’s president, recently told Connect that purpose-built rentals, multiplex units, and similar projects are dominating Canadian development.