Assessment is not market value, and the gap is not uniform across the city.Across 180 Calgary communities the ratio of median sale price to median assessed value ranges from 0.64 to 1.93.
Part of the gap is built into the timing, not the accuracy.A Calgary assessment reflects the market as at 1 July of the previous year. In a rising market, sales will systematically run above assessments simply because the assessment is describing an older market.
Older inner-city communities tend to sell furthest above assessment.The communities at the top of the table are predominantly established, with typical construction dates from the 1950s to the 1980s.
An assessment appeal is not supported by a ratio alone.These are community medians across all property types. A single home's assessment can only be judged against comparable homes in the same building or street.

The Local Read

Every January the assessment notices land and the phone starts ringing, and the question is always the same: my assessment says one thing, what would it actually sell for? They are two different numbers measuring two different moments. The assessment is last July. The market is today. In a year like this one that gap is not an error, it is a calendar. Where I would look twice is if your assessment sits well outside the pattern for your own street — that is worth a conversation before the appeal deadline, not after.

— Crystal Tost, REALTOR®, Calgary real estate since 1997

The timing

Why assessment and sale price differ by design

A Calgary property assessment reflects the estimated market value of the property as at 1 July of the preceding year, with its physical condition as at 31 December of that year. The 2026 assessment notice therefore describes the July 2025 market.

This is the single most misunderstood thing about assessments. If Calgary values rose between last July and today, homes will sell above their assessments across the board — and that is the system working as designed, not the City getting it wrong.

The useful signal is not whether a community sells above or below its assessments. It is whether a community sits noticeably outside the pattern of the rest of the city.

Above

Communities selling furthest above assessment

Calgary communities where median sale price most exceeded median assessed value.
Community	Median sale	Median assessed	Sale ÷ assessed	Typical year built	Sales
Downtown Commercial Core	$340,000	$176,500	1.93	1978	73
North Glenmore Park	$1,147,400	$913,500	1.26	1961	53
Mission	$392,500	$323,500	1.21	1981	103
Elbow Park	$2,262,500	$1,870,000	1.21	1953	54
Windsor Park	$320,500	$268,000	1.20	1981	90
Upper Mount Royal	$2,382,500	$2,010,000	1.19	1950	42
Rosscarrock	$854,450	$741,500	1.15	1969	46
Killarney/Glengarry	$831,500	$734,500	1.13	1997	231
Bankview	$317,500	$283,500	1.12	1976	98
Lakeview	$950,000	$852,000	1.12	1965	97
Montgomery	$778,125	$700,500	1.11	1988	72
University District	$483,250	$437,000	1.11	2018	70

Below

Communities selling closest to or below assessment

A ratio below 1.0 means the typical sale came in under the typical assessment. Mix is the most common explanation: if the homes that sold in a community were smaller or more often attached than its overall dwelling stock, the sale median will sit below the assessment median without either figure being wrong.

Calgary communities where median sale price sat closest to or below median assessed value.
Community	Median sale	Median assessed	Sale ÷ assessed	Typical year built	Sales
Palliser	$440,000	$684,250	0.64	1976	49
Garrison Green	$472,000	$696,250	0.68	2006	36
Millrise	$391,250	$573,500	0.68	1992	100
Greenwood/Greenbriar	$415,000	$598,000	0.69	2021	47
Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill	$592,500	$850,000	0.70	1968	50
Aspen Woods	$885,000	$1,170,000	0.76	2010	164
Redstone	$489,750	$634,000	0.77	2017	108
Glamorgan	$450,000	$581,250	0.77	1970	102
Currie Barracks	$485,000	$619,500	0.78	2015	63
Nolan Hill	$592,000	$756,000	0.78	2015	115
Skyview Ranch	$308,495	$393,500	0.78	2013	208
Arbour Lake	$569,000	$711,000	0.80	1998	155

How this was made

Methodology

Assessment data: City of Calgary Open Data, Current Year Property Assessments. Residential dwelling parcels only — the roll assesses parking stalls and storage lockers as separate parcels and in condominium-dense communities these outnumber the dwellings, which would distort every median.
Sales data: MLS® sales data accessed via Repliers, medians over August 2025 – July 2026.
Both sides are medians: A median sale price is compared against a median assessed value. Comparing a median against an average would produce a meaningless ratio.
Minimum sample size: A community appears only with at least 30 sales in the period.
The mix caveat: Both medians are across all property types. If the mix of what sold differs from the mix of what exists in a community, the ratio moves for reasons unrelated to assessment accuracy. These ratios indicate where to look, not what any individual assessment should be.
Not appeal advice: Nothing here supports or refutes an individual assessment. An appeal is argued on comparable properties, not on a community ratio. Our property tax assessment guide explains that process.

Cite this data

Free to cite and quote. Attribution appreciated, no link required.

Report: Calgary Assessment vs Market Value
Reporting period: August 2025 – July 2026
Underlying source: City of Calgary assessment records and MLS® sales data
URL: https://www.calgarylistings.com/calgary-assessment-vs-market-value/

Suggested attribution:

CalgaryListings Group analysis of City of Calgary assessment records and MLS® sales data, Calgary Assessment vs Market Value (August 2025 – July 2026).
https://www.calgarylistings.com/calgary-assessment-vs-market-value/

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