Although average monthly rents continued to decline on a national basis, rents are rising regionally according to the latest rent report from Rentals.ca.
Monthly data for April shows that average rents are rising in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec, suggesting the market might have turned a corner with increased tenant demand. Though the third wave of COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in certain areas, it appears this isn’t stopping residents from trying to get into the rental market, or from switching apartments for better deals and more space before rents are rising consistently across the country.
“Despite the continued decline in average rents on a national level, the rental market has started to turn up with rents increasing month over month in most of the largest provinces in the country,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. “The drop overall in Canada is likely the result of a lower share of listings in Ontario in April compared to March, which we believe is the result of units leasing faster as opposed to more vacant units in the other provinces. Even with the prolonged pandemic, there appears to be increased rental demand, but it will take a few months before we declare it a trend and not a statistically anomaly based on a changing composition of listings.”
Most of the major Canadian metropolitan areas — including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Winnipeg — saw monthly increases in average monthly rent in April for both condominium rentals and apartments.
Saskatoon, up 4.5 per cent, and Brampton, up 4 per cent, led 13 of the 18 cities in terms of month-over-month increases in monthly rent for condo rentals and apartments.
London, down 1.5 per cent, Mississauga, down 1.4 per cent, and Etobicoke, North York and Regina saw monthly decreases in average monthly rent for condominium rentals and apartments.
Vancouver had the highest average asking rents in Canada in April for condo rentals and apartments at $2,200 per month, followed by Toronto at $2,004 per month.
Click here for the full report: Rentals.ca May 2021 Rent Report
