While West Vancouver is the most expensive municipality in the Metro Vancouver region to start renting an apartment this month, some of the cheapest neighbourhoods are as far from West Vancouver as you can be in the region.
May 2024's average rent for a newly-listed unfurnished one-bedroom apartment is only $49 above that of May 2023, with that average now sitting at $2,367 (a sliver below April's average), according ot Liv.Rent's most recent report.
However, across the region there's some variation. The communities north of the Burrard Inlet continue to be among the priciest, along with central Vancouver neighbourhoods, while the areas further east tend to be cheaper.
Where can I find cheap rent in Metro Vancouver in May 2024?
The cheapest average for a newly-listed basic unfurnished one-bedroom apartment is is in the Fleetwood neighbourhood of Surrey, at $1,610; it's equalled by Metro Vancouver neighbour Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley.
There's a pretty large gap to the next neighbourhood, Surrey's Newton, which sits at $1,741. The two Surrey communities are the only places where the average for new rental listings is below $1,900. Willoughby in Langley is sitting at $1,932, while Vancouver's Sunset-Victoria Fraserview neighbourhood is at $1,952 (the only part of Vancouver below $2,000).
There's a huge range in the City of Vancouver.
While Sunset-Victoria Fraserview is among the cheapest in the Metro Vancouver region, the city's downtown is the most expensive at $2,886, followed by the combined neighbourhoods of West Point Grey and UBC at $2,848. Surprisingly, it's actually significantly cheaper to rent a furnished place in West Point Grey and UBC, at $2,716 a month for newly-listed units (nearby, Dunbar and Kerrisdale both saw a similar trend, with about a $250 difference in each).
Kitsilano once again cracked the top five this month ($2,676), along with Shaughnessy ($2,696) and Mount Pleasant ($2,654). Fairview and the West End were barely edged out of the top five with averages of $2,652 and $2,647 respectively.
The other cheaper neighbourhoods in Vancouver (relatively speaking) are also all in the southeast, with Marpole ($2,161), Killarney ($2,210) and Renfrew-Collingwood ($2,248) rounding it out.
Prices jump up a lot for a second bedroom, with only those four bottom neighbourhoods showing offerings under $3,000. The most expensive average recorded by Liv.rent is for an unfurnished three-bedroom unit in West Point Grey and UBC, which hit $5,256 (and was more than $1,100 more than a furnished equivalent.
