Vancouver annual average rent increase slows to 10% for condo rentals, apartments

AVERAGE asking rents in Canada rose 6.5 per cent in May, the lowest percentage annual increase since December 2021, according to the Rentals.ca  and Urbanation latest National Rent Report.

(The data includes single-detached homes, semi-detached homes, townhouses, condominium apartments, rental apartments and basement apartments. Outlier listings are removed, as are single-room rentals.)

But average rent for all property types on the Rentals.ca Network was still up 19 per cent over the past two years.

Month over month, average rents in Canada increased 0.6 per cent to $2,014.

Average rents are expected to continue to move up with rising immigration (Canada plans to welcome 465,000 new residents in 2023), and as buying a home becomes more expensive. (Average home prices are rising again, and the Bank of Canada raised interest rates 25 points June 7 to a 22-year high of 4.75 per cent.)

“Higher rents are on the horizon with interest rates at a 22-year high, rising home prices and record immigration,” said Matt Danison, CEO of Rentals.ca Network, on Monday. “Gen Z could become the ‘Boomerang Generation’ moving back in with the parents or the ‘Roommate Generation’ splitting rent as it’s unaffordable for many Canadians to pay rent on their own. Governments at all levels need to come up with creative solutions to increase housing supply.”

(The Rentals.ca Network numbers show only vacated properties that reflect the actual rents a potential tenant encounters when seeking to rent a home. The numbers do not account for occupied units.)

“The rental market is expected to heat up further as it enters the seasonal peak for demand during the summer months, driven primarily by an incoming surge in international students and continued deterioration in homeownership affordability as interest rates move higher again,” said Shaun Hildebrand, President of Urbanation.

* Vancouver once again tops the list of 35 cities for average monthly rent. In May, average monthly rent in the city for a one-bedroom home was $2,831, and average monthly rent for a two-bedroom was $3,666.

Year over year, average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom in Vancouver was up 16 per cent and up 8.7 per cent for a two-bedroom.

* Burnaby finished third on the list for average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom at $2,366 and second for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $3,304.

Year over year, average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom in Burnaby was up 18.2 per cent and up 21.8 per cent for a two-bedroom.

* Victoria came in 11th on the list of 35 cities for average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom at $2,045 and ninth for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,616.

Year over year, average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom in Victoria was up 3.4 per cent.

* Kelowna finished 15th on the list for average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom at $1,959 and seventh for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,669.

Year over year, average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom in Kelowna was down 0.8 per cent but up 0.8 per cent for a two-bedroom.

* Surrey came in 17th on the list of 35 cities for average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom at $1,929 and 13th for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,477.

Year over year, average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom in Surrey was up 13.7 per cent and up 17 per cent for a two-bedroom.

* Coquitlam was not included on the list, but average monthly rent in May for a one-bedroom was $2,406, and average monthly rent for a two-bedroom was $2,982.

Vancouver, the most expensive of Canada’s largest cities with average rents of $3,137 for purpose-built and condo apartments in May, saw its annual rate of rent growth slow to 9.7 per cent down from 16.8 per cent in April.

Toronto average annual rents rose 15.5 per cent in May to $2,808 for purpose-built and condominium rentals.

Calgary rents, which averaged $1,944 for purpose-built and condo apartments, increased 14.6 per cent year over year in May compared to 22.9 per cent annual growth in April.

Ottawa rents also increased at a 14.6 per cent annual rate in May, reaching an average of $2,134.

New Westminster and Burnaby led British Columbia mid-sized cities on a list of 25 with the fastest rising annual rents at 23 per cent and 19 per cent respectively for condo rentals and apartments in May.

Average rents in Richmond increased 15 per cent year over year for condo rentals and apartments in May; Surrey average rents were up 12% year over year; Coquitlam average annual rents rose 11 per cent; and Langley average rents for condo rentals and apartments in May increased 8 per cent.

Oakville continued as Canada’s most expensive midsize market in May with an average rent of $3,373 for purpose-built and condominium apartments.

Next on the list of 25 mid-sized cities for average rent for purpose-built and condominium apartments were Burnaby at $2,899; Coquitlam at $2,774 and Richmond at $2,711.

Other British Columbia cities on the list were: New Westminster at $2,426; Kelowna at $2,398; Surrey at $2,346; Langley at $2,268 and Victoria at $2,215.

British Columbia remained the most expensive province in May with average rents at $2,468 for purpose-built and condo apartments, but rent growth slowed to 5.2 per cent.

Alberta led provinces in annual rent growth in May with average rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments up 13.4 per cent year over year to $1,521. Even with this growth, Alberta rents were still 22 per cent below the average for Canada.

Ontario had the highest increase in average rents in May at 12.4 per cent year over year to $2,409 for purpose-built and condominium apartments.

Quebec also posted double-digit annual rent growth in May of 10.6 per cent to $1,875.

Other takeaways from the Rentals.ca Network June National Rent Report include:

• In Vancouver and Toronto, roommate rents were well above $1,000 in May, averaging $1,433 in Vancouver and $1,299 in Toronto. In Ottawa, the average roommate rental in May was $947; in Montreal; the average was $930; in Calgary, roommate rentals averaged $843 in May and in Edmonton, the average roommate rental was $712.

• Year over year, average rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments slowed to 7.3 per cent in May from 10.1 per cent in April. For one-bedroom purpose-built and condo apartments, rents averaged $1,770 in May, and two-bedroom rents averaged $2,127.

The National Rent Report charts and analyzes monthly, quarterly and annual rates and trends in the rental market on a national, provincial, and municipal level across all listings on the Rentals.ca Network for Canada. The data from the digital rental platform Rentfaster.ca data is incorporated into this report. Comparisons and analyses are based on the new and bigger dataset.

Rentals.ca Network data is analyzed and the report written by Urbanation, a Toronto-based real estate research firm providing in-depth market analysis and consulting services since 1981.