Average rent in Canada has surpassed its all time high, hitting a new record of $2,200 a month, according to the latest national rent report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.
The record break follows last month’s reported all time high of $2,188, with average asking rents for all residential property types in Canada having increased 9.3% year-over-year in May, according to the report.
“This rate of increase is consistent with the annual growth rate recorded in April and reflects an average annual growth of 9.1% over the past three years,” says the press release.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca Network
Rental Market "Entering The Peak Summer Season With Continued Strength"
In his analysis of Thursday's data, Urbanation President Shaun Hildebrand noted that the increased rents reflect the seasonal context. "Canada’s rental market is entering the peak summer season with continued strength,” he said. "Markets such as Vancouver and Toronto that had experienced some softening in rents in previous months are stabilizing near record highs, while many of the country’s mid- and small-sized cities are still posting double-digit rent increases.”
Vancouver has the highest average asking rents, with one-bedrooms ringing it at $2,671, and two-bedrooms at $3,628. And Toronto isn't far behind, with one-bedroom rents going for an average of $2,479, and two-bedrooms at $3,284.
According to the report, "Edmonton continued as the leader in rent growth among Canada’s largest cities, posting a 14.6% annual increase in asking rents for apartments." Calgary increased twice that amount in the past year, but still, average asking rent remains lower in Edmonton at $1,507 vs. Calgary's $2,089.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca Network
However, the report highlights that May wasn't kind to any of the provinces (except Quebec) when it comes to annual increases in apartment rents for purpose-built and condo rentals. "Ontario inched out a 0.6% gain after recording a 0.7% annual decrease in April, with rents reaching an average of $2,423. Apartment rent growth in BC improved from a 1.6% annual pace in April to a 2.3% annual pace in May, with rents averaging the highest of all provinces at $2,526," says the report.
Quebec was the only outlier, recording a "month-over-month decline in apartment rents during May, dipping 0.6% from April to an average of $1,999." However, the report did include that asking rents in Quebec were still up 6.7% from last year.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca Network
The report also highlights that, compared to condo rents, purpose-built rental rates grew much faster. "Rents for purpose-built rental apartments increased 13.7% from a year ago, which was four times faster than the annual growth in condo rents of 3.4%. Condo rents declined 0.8% month-over-month to an average of $2,312, while purpose-built rental rents rose 1.0% on a monthly basis to an average of $2,146."
Condo studios were the only housing type to have a decline, decreasing 0.7% to an average of $1,856, while purpose-built studios experienced the fastest annual growth of 17.8% in May, sitting at $1,615.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca Network
Reflecting the average asking rent in Canada's largest markets, the report shows BC and Ontario had the highest rents for shared accommodations, at $1,191 and $1,069, respectively, and with Alberta seeing the biggest increase over the past year at +9.6% to $883. Though in Toronto, rents for shared accommodations decreased 3.2% to $1,257 from a year ago, and similarly, in Ottawa, they dropped 1.2% to $936.
Urbanation Inc, Rentals.ca Network
