I am incredibly honoured to share that I have received the 25-Year Long Service Award from the Calgary Real Estate Board. It is a milestone that feels both humbling and rewarding. They say that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life, and that sentiment could not ring more true for me.

Over the past two and a half decades, I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients through one of life’s biggest transitions: buying or selling a home. There is no moment more gratifying than seeing a homeowner thrilled at the firm sale of their property, or watching a buyer receive the keys to their new home, eyes lit up with excitement and possibility. These are the moments that never get old.

Real estate is not just about contracts and keys; it is about people, relationships, and trust. I truly believe that I bring value to each transaction, and after 25 years in this business, I can confidently say that experience matters. Each negotiation, each market shift, and each unique client story has contributed to the depth of insight and perspective I bring to the table today.

This milestone is not mine alone. I am so fortunate to work alongside a phenomenal team, the Viani Real Estate Group, whose commitment, professionalism, and shared passion make every day in this business better. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife and kids. Their unwavering support, patience, and love have been the foundation that has allowed me to pursue this career with heart and purpose.

To my clients, colleagues, family, and friends, thank you. Thank you for the trust, the conversations, the challenges, and the celebrations. Here is to the next chapter, because I am just as excited about the future as I was when I started.

Thank you

Joe Viani

Canada’s housing market is showing faint signs of revival, according to a new report from RBC assistant chief economist Robert Hogue. 

Data from local real estate boards indicates that sales activity ticked upward in May across several cities where sales previously pulled back, hinting at a recovery in a sector rattled by a trade war and lingering economic uncertainty.

This was the case for Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Fraser Valley, Saskatoon and Regina where the number of transactions partially rebounded from significant declines earlier this year.

“The de-escalation of tariffs has taken centre stage since May, alleviating some of the worst fears about the potential economic fallout even though recent doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs increases risks in some communities,” said Hogue. “We expect to get a clearer view in the coming months.”

Different stories across the country

Markets in southern Ontario and parts of British Columbia, the country’s least affordable areas, remain especially soft, Hogue notes. Activity in many of them is close to cyclical lows and will take time to rebound to more robust levels.

These markets are also where prices are under the most downward pressure. The MLS Home Price Index fell again in several markets in May from April, including the Toronto region, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Vancouver and Fraser Valley. 

Trends in other parts of the country are relatively sturdier. Prairie markets such as Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, and some in Quebec, including Quebec City, and the Atlantic region like St. John’s have held up so far, “albeit they are not entirely unscathed from trade-induced anxiety,” said Hogue.

Toronto: A hesitant uptick

Toronto appears to be regaining its footing. Home resales rose 8.4 per cent in May over April on a seasonally adjusted basis, marking a second straight monthly increase. While the volume remains well below pre-pandemic highs, the upward trend suggests that sentiment is shifting.

Buyers continue to enjoy leverage. Inventory is at its highest in decades, putting pressure on sellers. Home prices remain under stress, with the MLS Home Price Index down 4.5 per cent from May 2024, even as it ticked up slightly month-over-month.

Montreal: Resilience amid uncertainty

Montreal has been steadier in the face of economic turbulence. Resale activity slipped just 2 per cent between April and May, and remains at what Hogue calls “solid pre-pandemic levels.” A reasonably balanced market has kept upward pressure on prices.

Single-family homes saw an 8.6 per cent year-over-year price increase in May, with condos rising 4.3 per cent. That pace is expected to moderate as more sellers enter the market, said Hogue.

Vancouver: Slowdown persists

Resales dropped again in May, marking six straight months of decline, while inventory swelled to a 12-year high, fueled by an influx of unsold condo completions.

The result: falling prices. The city’s MLS HPI was down 2.9 per cent from a year ago in May, and downward momentum is expected to continue in the near term.

Calgary: Defying the trend

Calgary stands out for its resilience. May resale activity jumped more than 8 per cent following three months of declines. A fast-growing population and strong job growth – three times the national average – continue to drive demand.

While the city’s HPI dipped 2.5 per cent year-over-year, new construction has helped keep prices in check without deterring buyers.

Coutrest Real Estate Magazine

Thanks to steep pullbacks in the apartment condominium sector, total residential sales in Calgary eased by 17 per cent compared to May of last year. While the drop does seem significant, the 2,568 sales this month remain 11 per cent higher than long-term trends for May and improved over last month.

New listings continued to rise this month compared to sales, resulting in further gains in inventory levels. However, the monthly gain in both inventory and sales prevented any significant change in the months of supply compared to April. With 2.6 months of supply, conditions are still relatively balanced. 

“Compared to last year, easing sales and rising inventories are consistent trends across many cities, as uncertainty continues to weigh on housing demand. However, prior to the economic uncertainty, Calgary was dealing with seller market conditions, and the recent pullbacks in sales and inventory have helped shift us toward balanced conditions taking the pressure off prices,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, Chief Economist at CREB®. “This is a different situation from some of the other larger cities, where their housing markets were struggling prior to the addition of economic uncertainty.”    

Last year there was limited inventory across most property types and price ranges. Recent inventory gains are creating pockets of the market that are struggling with too much supply while in other areas supply levels are still low relative to the demand, resulting in divergent trends in home prices.

Both detached and semi-detached home prices have remained relatively stable this month and are still higher than last year’s levels. Meanwhile, row and apartment style homes have reported modest monthly price declines and May prices remain below last year’s levels, as improved new home and rental supply is weighing on resale prices. Overall, the total residential unadjusted benchmark price in Calgary was $589,900, slightly lower than last month and over two per cent below May 2024 levels.   

Detached

New listings in May rose to 2,419 units, with most of the gains driven by homes priced over $600,000. At the same time, sales activity has slowed across most price ranges, supporting a shift toward more balanced conditions and relative stability in prices. However, districts that are facing more competition from new home product or are seeing a larger pullback in demand are starting to show some signs of elevated supply.

The North East district has seen the largest pullback in resale sales activity combined with some of the highest gains in new listings. This has driven the sales-to-new listings ratio down to 41 per cent and the months of supply was nearly four months in May. This is causing prices to ease in the North East, offsetting some of the gains reported in the City Centre, West, and North West districts. City-wide the unadjusted benchmark price in May was $769,400, similar to last month, one percent higher than last May, and still above last year’s seasonal peak price.  

Semi-Detached

The 428 new listings in May were met with 256 sales, causing the sales-to-new-listings ratio to rise to 60 per cent this month. This slowed the pace of inventory growth and the months of supply remained just above two months.  Semi-detached homes continue to remain less than 10 per cent of all sales and inventory levels in the city.

This in part is due to construction patterns shifting toward more row style properties over semi-detached, and is one of the reasons we do not see the same inventory build as row and apartment style homes. 

Like the detached market there is significant variation within the city districts. The North East has the highest months of supply at nearly three months and is reporting some price declines, while the tightest conditions are in the North West, where prices continue to rise. Overall, generally tighter conditions are still supporting price gains for semi-detached properties. In April the unadjusted benchmark price was $697,300, a monthly gain of less than one per cent, nearly three per cent higher than last year’s levels and above last year’s seasonal peak.

Row

Row home sales have eased over last year’s near record high pace but stayed well above long-term trends.  However, the gain in new listings has continued to cause further inventory gains. For the second month in a row, inventory levels were over 1,000 units; we have not seen this much inventory for row units since 2021.

While inventory levels have improved across all districts, we are starting to see higher months of supply in the North East district at 3.5 months, resulting in some downward pressure on prices. The North, North West and South areas have also reported higher year-over-year pullbacks in resale prices, as improved supply choice for new properties are impacting resale activity. Overall, the benchmark price in May was $453,600, down over last month, nearly two per cent below last May, and lower than last year’s seasonal high.  

Apartment Condominium

Sales this month totaled 579 units, a significant decline over last May’s record high of 907 units. While new listings were lower than levels reported last year, they remained high compared to sales, causing the sales-to-new listings ratio to drop to 47% this month. This contributed to further inventory gains and drove the months of supply up to 3.6 months.

High levels of apartment rental units under construction are adding to the rental supply and contributing to rent adjustments. This is likely slowing condo ownership demand coming from existing renters and potential investors, contributing to some of the shifts witnessed in the apartment condominium sector. 

More supply choice is also weighing on condominium prices. In May the benchmark price eased to $335,300, down from last month and over one per cent lower than last year. The steepest declines are occurring in the North East and South East districts, where competition from the new home market is weighing on resale pricing. While prices have eased and are below peak levels, recent declines have not offset the double-digit gains reported over the past two years.

REGIONAL MARKET FACTS

Airdrie

While improving over last month, May sales eased compared to last year, contributing to the year-to-date decline of 10 per cent. However, the 772 sales so far this year are consistent with long-term trends in Airdrie. At the same time new listings continue to rise causing the sales-to-new listings ratio to fall to 58 per cent, still well within balanced conditions, but a significant change from the over 90 per cent ratio reported last year. Recent shifts in sales and new listings have supported gains in inventory levels.

In May there were 468 units in inventory, reflecting the highest May reported since prior to the pandemic. The shift in supply is in part related to the surge in new construction providing more options for potential consumers. Additional supply choice is impacting price growth.  The total residential benchmark price was $540,600 in May, down nearly one per cent over last month and nearly two per cent below last year’s levels.

Cochrane

Sales in Cochrane were fairly resilient until this month, where sales were 17 per cent slower than last year. The decline was enough to cause year-to-date sales to ease to levels just below those reported last year.  At the same time, this month new listings surged, driving the sales-to-new listings ratio down to 55 per cent and supporting further inventory gains.  With 293 units available in May, levels are more consistent with long-term trends. The months of supply neared three months in May and while this did slow the pace of price growth, the total residential benchmark price of $589,400 is still nearly four per cent higher than last May.

Okotoks

A boost in new listings this month supported a surge in sales activity. However, with a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 74%, inventory levels did not change much over last month and the months of supply once again dropped below two months. Okotoks has struggled to add supply at the pace reported in Calgary, Cochrane and Airdrie and sales growth has been dampened by limited supply choice.

While there have been some improvements in inventory levels, as of May levels remained nearly 28 per cent below long-term trends for the city.  The limited supply choice given the relatively strong demand has continue to support some price growth in the town. As of May the unadjusted benchmark price was $633,900, up over last month and over two per cent higher than last year. 

Click here to view the full City of Calgary monthly stats package.

Click here to view the full Calgary region monthly stats package.

Benchmark Rate holds steady at 2.75%

The Bank of Canada has kept its overnight interest rate target at 2.75 per cent. It is the second straight meeting the Bank has kept rates on hold after a string of decreases amounting to 225 basis points over the last nine months. It is a guarded step amidst ongoing economic uncertainties, notably those relating to U.S. trade policies. The Bank subsequently stated that “bilateral trade negotiations have been initiated with several countries; but the result of such negotiations is extremely uncertain.”

“In Canada, economic growth in the first quarter came in at 2.2%, slightly stronger than the Bank had forecast, while the composition of GDP growth was largely as expected. The pull-forward of exports to the United States and inventory accumulation boosted activity, with final domestic demand roughly flat. Strong spending on machinery and equipment held up growth in business investment by more than expected,” according to the Bank’s announcement. “Housing activity was down, driven by a sharp contraction in resales.”

Stable interest rates can provide some comfort to sellers and buyers moving into summer, but persistent economic uncertainty, especially on the trade front, can still put a damper on consumer confidence and housing activity in the coming months.

Bank of Canada’s 2025 Policy Interest Rate Announcement Schedule

Bank of Canada announces its decision for the overnight rate target eight times a year, typically on a Wednesday. The schedule for 2025 is as follows:

• Wednesday, January 29

• Wednesday, March 12

• Wednesday, April 16

• Wednesday, June 4

• Wednesday, July 30

• Wednesday, September 17

• Wednesday, October 29

• Wednesday, December 10

Read the full interest rate announcement below:

The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 2.75%, with the Bank Rate at 3% and the deposit rate at 2.70%.

Since the April Monetary Policy Report, the US administration has continued to increase and decrease various tariffs. China and the United States have stepped back from extremely high tariffs and bilateral trade negotiations have begun with a number of countries. However, the outcomes of these negotiations are highly uncertain, tariff rates are well above their levels at the beginning of 2025, and new trade actions are still being threatened. Uncertainty remains high.

While the global economy has shown resilience in recent months, this partly reflects a temporary surge in activity to get ahead of tariffs. In the United States, domestic demand remained relatively strong but higher imports pulled down first-quarter GDP. US inflation has ticked down but remains above 2%, with the price effects of tariffs still to come. In Europe, economic growth has been supported by exports, while defence spending is set to increase.  China’s economy has slowed as the effects of past fiscal support fade. More recently, high tariffs have begun to curtail Chinese exports to the US. Since the financial market turmoil in April, risk assets have largely recovered and volatility has diminished, although markets remain sensitive to US policy announcements. Oil prices have fluctuated but remain close to their levels at the time of the April MPR.

In Canada, economic growth in the first quarter came in at 2.2%, slightly stronger than the Bank had forecast, while the composition of GDP growth was largely as expected. The pull-forward of exports to the United States and inventory accumulation boosted activity, with final domestic demand roughly flat. Strong spending on machinery and equipment held up growth in business investment by more than expected. Consumption slowed from its very strong fourth-quarter pace, but continued to grow despite a large drop in consumer confidence. Housing activity was down, driven by a sharp contraction in resales. Government spending also declined. The labour market has weakened, particularly in trade-intensive sectors, and unemployment has risen to 6.9%. The economy is expected to be considerably weaker in the second quarter, with the strength in exports and inventories reversing and final domestic demand remaining subdued.  

CPI inflation eased to 1.7% in April, as the elimination of the federal consumer carbon tax reduced inflation by 0.6 percentage points. Excluding taxes, inflation rose 2.3% in April, slightly stronger than the Bank had expected. The Bank’s preferred measures of core inflation, as well as other measures of underlying inflation, moved up. Recent surveys indicate that households continue to expect that tariffs will raise prices and many businesses say they intend to pass on the costs of higher tariffs. The Bank will be watching all these indicators closely to gauge how inflationary pressures are evolving.

With uncertainty about US tariffs still high, the Canadian economy softer but not sharply weaker, and some unexpected firmness in recent inflation data, Governing Council decided to hold the policy rate as we gain more information on US trade policy and its impacts. We will continue to assess the timing and strength of both the downward pressures on inflation from a weaker economy and the upward pressures on inflation from higher costs.

Governing Council is proceeding carefully, with particular attention to the risks and uncertainties facing the Canadian economy. These include: the extent to which higher US tariffs reduce demand for Canadian exports; how much this spills over into business investment, employment and household spending; how much and how quickly cost increases are passed on to consumer prices; and how inflation expectations evolve. 

We are focused on ensuring that Canadians continue to have confidence in price stability through this period of global upheaval. We will support economic growth while ensuring inflation remains well controlled.

Courtesy REMAX LLC

The Viani Real Estate Group is thrilled to share that we have officially joined REMAX Innovations!

This move marks an exciting new chapter. REMAX Innovations is a dynamic, forward-thinking brokerage offering enhanced resources, cutting-edge tools, and a collaborative environment, all of which help us serve you better.

In addition to joining this exceptional brokerage, the group has also moved into our own newly renovated office on Centre Street North! This fresh, professional space gives us a central, welcoming location where we can meet with you, plan your real estate goals, and showcase the systems and strategies we used to help our clients succeed.

While our office and brokerage are new, our dedication to you remains stronger than ever. We are proud to continue representing the REMAX brand, the most recognized name in real estate worldwide, and to deliver the high level of service, expertise, and results you have come to expect from us.

Whether you are thinking of buying, selling, investing, or just exploring options, I am here to help and always grateful for your referrals. These exciting changes mean more value, insight, and support for your real estate journey.

We can not wait to welcome you to our new space and show you all the exciting things we have been working on.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Viani Real Estate Group

REMAX Innovations

www.vianigroup.com