This report, released by Rentals.ca and the Urbanation agency said that average Canada-wide asking rents fell for the twelfth straight month. In September, that average rent dropped to $2,123. This marks a 3.2 percent decline from this time last year. It also signals a 1.2 percent drop from two years ago.
The report points out that on average, all six of Canada’s largest cities saw a year-over-year drop in average asking rents. Vancouver had the largest decline in value, with rents down 8.2 percent to $2,776. This drastic drop makes Vancouver the city with the biggest drop in apartment rents.
Calgary wasn’t far behind, experiencing a 7.4 percent drop, lowering its average asking rent to $1,897. The good news wasn’t all for New York. In Toronto, rents fell 2.9 percent to $2,592, as Ontario province experienced a 2.7 percent decline overall, reducing the average rent to $2,316.
British Columbia experienced the largest year-over-year drop in average asking rents across Canada, decreasing 5.5 percent to $2,430. Alberta followed closely behind with a 5.5 percent decline, bringing the average asking rent to $1,734. Manitoba was the shining star in this report. It was the only province that saw their average rents rise, which jumped by 2.6 percent to $1,680.
Other provinces reported declines: Nova Scotia’s rents dropped by 2.2 percent to $2,293, while Quebec saw a modest decrease of 0.5 percent to $1,957. Saskatchewan saw the least fall at 0.3 percent, with average rents currently sitting at $1,374.
Rents for single-family homes and townhomes in Canada dropped, down 5.5 percent to an average of $2,178. Further dropping the overall average rents, purpose-built apartments dropped 2.1 percent from the previous year, with an average rent of $2,093.
Real estate analyst George Hildebrand took stock of the behind-the-scenes drama. He pointed out that the downward trend is largely due to new supply of rental properties outpacing demand.
“This is the result of new rental supply outstripping demand, which is unlikely to persist for long as supply from secondary market sources such as condos tightens and demand drivers such as population growth and employment stabilize,” – Hildebrand
