A recent report finds that Vancouver has the second-highest average rent across Canada for one-bedroom apartments and the highest rent for two-bedrooms. However, the market shows a continued downward trend as the effects of COVID-19 become more pronounced on rent prices.
Conducted by Padmapper.ca, the report analyzes rental data from hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country. From there, listings are aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents for the top 24 most populous metropolitan areas.
At the start of its report, Padmapper.ca notes that Toronto and Vancouver rents have hit another record month of declines. That said, Toronto still has the highest rent for a one-bedroom apartment Canada-wide, costing $2,100 for the month of July. It also has the second-highest rent for a two-bedroom, which costs $2,700.
Vancouver also saw a downward trend, with one-bedroom prices falling 1.4% from the previous month to $2,070 for the month of July. In addition, one-bedroom prices have fallen 5.9% since last year. The city still has the highest rent in Canada for a two-bedroom apartment, coming in at a staggering $2,870 for the month of July, which is down 4.3% from the previous month; two-bedrooms dropped a whopping 10.3% over the previous year.
Overall, 9 cities were on an upward trajectory last month, 9 downward, and 6 remained flat.
Padmapper notes that, "As Canada begins to reopen and people start thinking about their moves again, more cities than in previous months showed increases in monthly rent changes. As the pandemic persists on and working from home has become the new normal, it seems the demand for rentals has shifted away from the most pricey areas, like Toronto and Vancouver, and a significant amount of that demand is moving toward neighbouring, less expensive areas, like Barrie and Burnaby."
In Burnaby, on a month-to-month basis, the one-bedroom price increased 3.4% to $1,690, while two-bedrooms remained flat at $2,300.
Victoria's one and two-bedroom rents settled at $1,600 and $1,990, respectively. Notably, on a year-over-year basis, one-bedroom rent in this city is up 15.1%.
Photo: Padmapper.caThe report is based on all data available in the month prior to publication. Any data that is reported does not include short term or AirBnb listings.
