Anxiety "through the roof" as tenants battle for hot Fraser Valley rentals (PHOTOS)

The Fraser Valley rental market is on fire, and based on conversations with an Abbotsford Property Management company, things aren’t looking much better than they are in Vancouver.

A tweet from Jason Burga with Ace Agencies in Abbotsford suggested they receive hundreds of inquiries daily on some rentals.

“This is actually intense,” the tweet said.

I don’t know who needs to hear this.

The rental market is literally on fire. We are receiving 100s of inquiries + calls on a daily basis right now.

This is actually intense.

— Jason Bugra (@JasonBugra) June 20, 2023

We reached out to Bugra to learn more about the situation in Abbotsford, and he shared a couple of the hottest listings.

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One of the hottest properties currently is this rental, that’s going for $2,000 per month in Chilliwack, with two bedrooms and bathrooms.

Aldergrove is even more remote than Abbotsford, and this is one of the hottest listings in that city, a duplex for $2,500 per month:

Bugra said that 90% of their active listings have doubled or tripled in showings compared to just a few months ago.

“We try our best to showcase the home to everyone who is interested, but it can be difficult at times.”

He added that the closest he has seen to the current situation was back in 2017/2018 when there were lineups for showings for any type of property.

“Anxiety was through the roof for many families, and what made things worse was when people were approaching us and offering above market value rent at that time.”

Bugra had some interesting insights about the types of people applying for rentals: individuals or families with higher incomes. This is probably not what people who don’t have much disposable income want to hear.

“I would suspect they are either priced out of the market in terms of buying or waiting for the right time to enter in.”

He also had some thoughts about the government’s role. Having been doing this for eight or nine years, he feels, the government has made things worse.

“Many homeowners I know prefer not to rent out their additional legal suites or coach homes because of the lack of support government provides landlord when needed to remove a tenant from their home.”

As many experts have suggested, Bugra says more supply will help alleviate the rental market. But, he also feels there needs to be additional middle housing for mid to large families because condos and basements aren’t enough.