Oh my landlord: Average rent for a one-bedroom in Vancouver climbs past $3,000

It’s another dubious honour for Vancouver, as the average rent for a one-bedroom suite has now climbed past $3,000 monthly.

The numbers are from the rentals.ca August report, which analyzes asking rental rates from July.

According to rentals.ca, the average rent for a one-bedroom in Vancouver is now $3,013 monthly! That’s a 2.3% increase month-over-month and a 16.2% increase year-over-year.

If you make an average salary, you can kiss the thought of renting a two-bedroom apartment goodbye, as the average now is $3,918, a 1.4% increase month-over-month and a 15.7% increase year-over-year.

If you were to tabulate how much a one-bedroom would cost you in Vancouver over a year, you’d be looking at $36,156. And for a two-bedroom? It’s an astonishing $47,016.

Last month’s report had Burnaby as the second most expensive place to rent in Metro Vancouver, and it has now dropped to the number three spot, behind Toronto at number two.

A one-bedroom in Burnaby is now $2,541 per month, a 1.4% decrease month-over-month but still a significant 19.6% increase year-over-year.

Vancouver Island is much cheaper. You can rent a two-bedroom in Victoria now ($2,753) for less than a one-bedroom in Vancouver ($3,013).

Surrey rounded out the top 15, where the average rent for a one-bedroom is $1,951, and the average rent for a two-bedroom is $2,556.

If you’re curious about the cheapest big city to rent in, that honour still goes to Edmonton, where it’s $1,197 to rent a one-bedroom and $1,531 for a two-bedroom.

Nationally, the average asking rent in Canada hit a record high of $2,078 in July.

Rentals.ca says rents increased by 8.9% annually, “the fastest pace of growth of the past three months.”

Thankfully things aren’t as bad on the online marketplace, and you should still be able to find a place cheaper than these averages.

Average #Vancouver rent on Craigslist costs more than a roundtrip flight to #Greece 😭https://t.co/wap3NRYg7x

— Daily Hive Vancouver (@DailyHiveVan) August 9, 2023