Montreal's average rent price was down nearly 5% last month

Montreal’s average rent for February was down 3% compared to being up 37% at this time last year.

In an email shared with Daily Hive, Rentals.ca says the average asking rent for all Candian properties listed on its website in February was $1,714 per month, down 6% compared to February of last year ($1,823 monthly).

Rentals.ca says average asking rental rates are down year-over-year in Canada and have been for 12 of the last 13 months. The website says monthly rents for condos and apartments are down 18.1% year-over-year.

According to the rental website, Montreal finished 19th in all Canadian cities for average one-bedroom rental prices in February ($1,399) and 16th for two-bedroom spots ($1,875).

The rental website says the average monthly rate for Montreal condos and apartments was down 3% in February, compared to being up 37% at this time last year. Quebec City was down 14%, compared to being up 11% in February 2020.

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Of the 35 Canadian cities studied, Quebec City came in 34th for February’s rent list, with one-bedroom homes averaging $873 and two-bedrooms averaging $1,044.

Vancouver remains the most expensive city for renters looking for one- and two-bedroom homes on the list at $1,891 and $2,568, respectively.

Since hitting a high of $1,954 in August 2019, the average monthly rental rate has steadily declined — now down $240 from the peak. Month over month, the average rent was unchanged, according to Rentals.ca’s and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s latest National Rent Report.

Rentals.ca

February’s 6% decline is the lowest annual decrease experienced in the past nine months. At the peak of the market in November 2019, average monthly rents were up by 9.4%.

Rentals.ca says monthly average rates in Canada “might have hit the bottom,” after the COVID-19 pandemic. Average rents for a single-family home, townhouse, and apartment properties all increased month over month, but that could be due to seasonal increases as opposed to a fundamental increase in demand above traditional levels.

Rentals.ca says encouraging news in regards to the vaccine rollout over the next couple of months, the easing of lockdown conditions, the return to work for many employees, and an improvement in consumer confidence will likely result in a “rental market rebound” — but that could still be two or three months away.

“The condominium apartment market continues to weigh down the overall rental market in Canada, with huge year-over-year declines in average rental rates in BC, Quebec and Ontario, especially for tiny studio apartments,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. “Investors have been in a race to the bottom for several months, whereas the more institutional owners of the mostly cheaper rental apartments have been more patient in reducing rent, often using this opportunity to renovate vacated suites.”