Padmapper, a popular map-centric apartment rentals site, analyzes data from hundreds of thousands of active rental listings across the country. Listings are then combined on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents for the top 24 most populated metro areas – providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. And they just released their latest Canadian National Rent Report. The report is based on all data available in the month prior to publication. *Any data that is reported does not include short term or Airbnb listings.
Although last month the median price of one and two bedroom units in Montreal fell according the report, Montreal is still in the midst of a serious housing crisis. Given the city’s lowest vacancy rate in 15 years and the fact many landlords have a penchant for taking advantage of the situation by significantly increasing the prices of their rental units, coming in 5th out of 24 rankings should come as no big surprise.
The report states that overall 10 cities experienced an upward trend last month, 5 downward and 9 remained flat. The top 10 markets were relatively stable with some movement in the middle, but with no new cities entering or leaving. Meanwhile, on a year-over-year basis, half of the cities had double-digit rental growth rates, signaling a hot market that will most likely continue to grow as we enter into the spring months. In terms of monthly changes, Victoria one-bedroom rent had the largest growth rate, up 5.3%, while Barrie experienced the biggest dip, down 5.2%.
TOP 5 MOST EXPENSIVE MARKETS
1- Toronto, ON was the most expensive city with one bedrooms remaining flat at $2,300 and two bedrooms increasing 1% to $2,980.
2 – Vancouver BC one bedroom rent ranked as the second priciest at $2,150. Two bedrooms dropped 0.3% to settle at $2,990.
3 – Burnaby BC saw one bedroom rent grow 1.7% to $1,760 and two bedrooms remain stable at $2,350. Notably, on a year-over-year basis, one bedroom rent is up over 12%.
4 – Victoria BC moved up 2 spots, and into the top 5 markets, to become the 4th most expensive city. One bedroom rent jumped 5.3%, which was the largest monthly rental growth rate in the nation, to $1,590, while two bedrooms grew 4.9% to $1,920.
5 – Montreal QC dropped 1 position to rank as 5th with one bedroom rent falling 3.2% to $1,500 and two bedrooms decreasing 1.5% to $1,910.
CITIES WITH THE LARGEST MONTHLY CHANGES
Upward:
– Abbotsford BC ranked as the 17th most expensive city with one bedroom rent jumping 4.8% to $1,090.
– London ON saw one bedroom rent climb 3.4%, settling at $1,220, and up 2 positions to rank as the 13th priciest.
– Saskatoon SK moved up 2 spots to become 20th with one bedroom rent increasing 3.4% to $910. Two bedrooms had an even larger growth rate, up 4.9% to $1,070.
Downward:
– Barrie ON fell 1 position out of the top 5 markets, to rank as the 6th most expensive city. One bedroom rent dropped 5.2%, which was the largest monthly rental decline in the nation, to $1,450.
– Halifax NS moved down 1 spot to become 15th with one bedroom rent decreasing 5% to $1,140.
– Quebec QC took a 2 ranking dip to 22nd with one bedroom rent dropping 4.3% to $890. Two bedrooms had an even larger decline, falling 5% to $1,140.
The cities with the lowest rental prices ranking at number 20 to 24 include Saskatoon, Regina, Quebec, Windsor and St. John’s. As for the other cities and how they rate, from most expensive to least expensive. *PLEASE SEE THE CHART FOR MORE DETAILS.
Other articles by mtltimes.ca and totimes.ca
