Rent rates across Metro Vancouver are continuing to decline, but two generally more affordable cities are seeing rents increase in May.
liv.rent recently released its May Metro Vancouver rent report, which revealed that compared to last May, rents across Metro Vancouver have declined.
For all cities, one-bedroom units fell to $2,086, an 8.31 per cent drop compared to last year. Two-bedroom units fell to $2,696, which marks a 5.3 per cent drop compared to last year. Even three-bedroom units fell by 4.04 per cent to a new average of $3,513 this May.
The most expensive cities in Canada are West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond.
liv.rent
While that’s a trend we’ve seen for a fairly consistent period of time with various platforms that look at rental rates, there are two surprising findings in the latest liv.rent report.
Bedrooms in both Surrey and New West, two cities that are generally more affordable than most of their Metro Vancouver counterparts, saw rents rise, particularly for two-bedroom Surrey units and three-bedroom New West units, which liv.rent says highlights “uneven demand across the region.”
Despite that, New West and Surrey are still among the cheapest cities to rent in Metro Vancouver for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Furnished one-bedroom units still saw a decline in Surrey.
liv.rent
“Three-bedroom units have experienced the most significant adjustments, declining to $3,513 (-2.14 per cent) since the start of the year and dropping as much as -18.96 per cent in Burnaby year over year. This suggests pricing pressure is more pronounced in higher-priced segments of the market,” liv.rent says.
Across all municipalities and areas, the most expensive place to rent in May is West Point Grey/UBC, where the average unfurnished one-bedroom unit is $2,833 this month.
Meanwhile, Surrey is home to some of the cheapest areas to find an unfurnished one-bedroom unit.
Average one, two, and three-bedroom unfurnished rentals in Surrey. (liv.rent)
You can see the full report on the liv.rent website.