The latest rental data from Rentals.ca shows Vancouver and Burnaby are still the most expensive places in Canada to rent a home, despite a dip in prices compared to the same time last year.
However, Vancouver alone saw a dip of 7.7 per cent year-over-year for a one-bedroom rental in July, coming in at an average of $2,724 per month, with two-bedroom rentals seeing a dip of 5.6 per cent year-over-year, for an average of $3,648.
According to the rental agency, the average rental price across Canada dipped by 0.8 per cent from May, “the largest month-over-month decline since early 2021 during COVID-19 and reversing the typical seasonal trend of increasing rents at this time of year.”
The rental agency says national rental prices “were essentially flat” over the past three months, increasing just 0.2 per cent between March and July.
“Asking rents for all residential property types in Canada increased 7.0% from a year ago to an average of $2,185 in June, representing the slowest annual rate of growth in 13 months,” Rentals.ca added.
The biggest dips, the agency says, have been seen in apartment and condo rentals.
“Asking rents for purpose-built and condominium rental apartments decreased by 1.0% month-over-month in June to an average of $2,146. Compared to a year ago, apartment rents were up 9.0%, driven by an 11.0% annual increase in rents for purpose-built rentals to an average of $2,121. Condominium apartment rents increased by a much smaller amount of 2.6% over the past year to an average of $2,320,” the rental agency shared.
“While studio rents for condominiums declined 5.1% annually in June to an average of $1,823, purpose-built studio rents grew 14.6% to an average of $1,613. Annual growth for purpose-built rentals was close to or above 10% for all unit types in June. For condominium rentals, annual rent growth increased with larger unit types, reaching 8.0% for three-bedroom units.”
The rental agency says Vancouver is also the most expensive place to rent, even for those with roommates.
“Vancouver remained the most expensive city for roommate rents with an average cost of $1,471, up 1.2% annually,” it said.