Rent just fell by 16% in one Metro Vancouver city
If you’re looking at moving soon, a surprising Metro Vancouver city might entice you with a double-digit rent drop.
Liv.rent has just released its October 2026 Rent Report, revealing that the average asking rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Richmond has fallen by 16.6 per cent this month, compared to the same month in 2025.
Currently, it is at $1,943, down from 2,330 in October of last year.
In the nine cities that liv.rent looks at across Metro Vancouver, the average decline in an unfurnished one-bedroom was 6.3 per cent, a drop of $140 from the same month in 2025.
liv.rent
The average asking rent price for an unfurnished one-bedroom dropped by 0.12 per cent from September, “settling at $2,083 per month.”
“Since February, unfurnished one-bedroom asking rents have held within a $37 band, between $2,061 and $2,098. The gap against last year widened in October to $140 from $86 in September, because rents rose in October 2025 while this year’s held steady,” liv.rent wrote.
Meanwhile, Richmond saw furnished one-bedrooms drop by 3.97 per cent year-over-year.
Generally, rents in Metro Vancouver have been on the decline over the past few years, due to the federal government reducing population growth, while increasing incentives to bring in new purpose-built rentals to boost supply.
What’s happening in Vancouver?
Vancouver saw the smallest drop in the average asking price for an unfurnished one-bedroom rent, at 2.6 per cent.
But two-bedroom units actually got more expensive. An unfurnished two-bedroom unit increased by 5.2 per cent year-over-year, from $2,970 to $3,125, and a furnished two-bedroom unit rent rose 10.8 per cent from $3,096 to $3,429.
Liv.rent also broke down rent by Vancouver neighbourhood, showing how rent varies across the city.
liv.rent
“Across the 16 City of Vancouver neighbourhoods with unfurnished one-bedroom listings this month, West Point Grey/UBC is the most expensive place to rent, with an unfurnished one-bedroom asking $2,600 per month. Sunset-Victoria Fraserview is the most affordable at $1,717 per month,” wrote liv.rent.
Even with rents dropping, Metro Vancouver still has some of the most expensive rents
Three of Canada’s most expensive cities to rent in are within Metro Vancouver.
“West Vancouver claims the top spot as the most expensive city in Canada to rent in, followed by North Vancouver and Vancouver, with Burlington and Markham, both in Ontario, rounding out the top five,” wrote liv.rent.
The average asking price for an unfurnished one-bedroom in West Vancouver is $2,532. In North Vancouver, it is $2,452. In Vancouver, it’s $2,329.