Condo rental prices have fallen over 10% across Canada: report

Aug 14 2020, 9:05 pm

Condo rental prices fell over 10% across Canada in July, despite the country counting its first increase in national rental costs since the pandemic began.

The results are part of Rentals.ca’s and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s National Rent Report. Overall, they found that the average monthly rent for all Canadian properties listed on Rentals.ca in July was $1,771. This is up $1 over June, but still down 8.1% year over year.

“The $1 increase represents the first time the average rent increased on a monthly basis since September 2019,” a press release from the companies said, “even though average asking rents nationally are still down 9.4% from that market peak of $1,954 that month.”

Both the cost of a single-family home and condominium rentals have declined steadily each month since the pandemic began. According to the report, single-family home rents were down 14.9% year over year in July, and condo rentals were down 11.4% year over year for the month.

Though these luxury units’ prices have been consistently falling, Bullpen’s research shows that apartments only saw lower rents in April and May.

“In July, apartments, which make up the majority of the listings on Rentals.ca, experienced a year-over-year increase of 5.8%,” the company said.

Toronto still holds the highest average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home at $2,051, though the cost of a one-bedroom in the city dropped for the fifth straight month. Besides Toronto, seven of the top 12 cities for most expensive rent are in the GTA.

Vancouver did, however, manage to take the lead in average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,797.

The only assessed Canadian city not to see a decline was Montreal, where average rents were up 11% year over year in July. More specifically, in July, average monthly rents were up 21.6% for a one-bedroom home year over year and up 15.8% for a two-bedroom.

“With the exception of Montreal, rental rates are flat or declining in most major metropolitan areas in Canada,” Matt Danison, CEO of Rentals.ca, said in the release. “Some tenants are looking for larger units in less affluent areas to accommodate their work-from-home needs.”

Toronto and Vancouver average rents for apartments and condominium rentals declined 8% year over year, while Calgary rents were down 9%. York, Saskatoon, North York, Regina, Red Deer, and Winnipeg also all experienced double-digit drops from July 2019 to July 2020.

On a provincial level, Ontario’s July rents were the highest, with landlords seeking $2,069 per month on average (all property types); this is down 0.7% monthly and 9.4% annually. British Columbia had the second highest rental rate at $2,029 per month, up 0.5% from June and 7.4% from July 2019.

Peter SmithPeter Smith

+ Urbanized
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