Vancouver remains the most expensive city to rent an apartment in, sitting more than $500 above the average Canadian municipality this summer.
In July 2022 a one-bedroom unit runs about $2,500 according to online apartment rental platform Rentals.ca. In their monthly report, they noted a similar apartment averaged $1,934 in Canada. For a two-bedroom unit, Vancouverites can expect prices to spike to $3,630.
"Year over year, average monthly rent in July for a one-bedroom in Vancouver was up 14.4 per cent and up 19.4 per cent for a two-bedroom. Month over month, average rent in Vancouver was up 3.6 per cent for a one-bedroom and up 4.8 per cent for a two-bedroom," they write in their report.
Overall rent in Vancouver has increased by 16 per cent compared to July 2021. When compared to July 2020 it's up 32 per cent, essentially pushing $2,000 rentals during the summer of 2020 to $2,640 this summer.
In the report, the receding pandemic is cited as a reason for the spike.
"Workers returning to the office are boosting rents in the most expensive central markets in Canada," the authors state.
At the same time, the home sales market is putting pressure on rentals as well. Potential homebuyers are being dissuaded from buying homes with rising interest rates and uncertainty about future price declines, notes Rental.ca.
And potential sellers are also being more cautious due to the high-interest rates. With people delaying buying and selling homes, the rental market gets tighter across Canada.
“The 2.6 per cent monthly increase in average rents in Canada is the second highest monthly jump in three years, topped only by the 3.8 per cent rise in May 2022," says Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting who also worked on the report.
According to Rentals.ca, rental prices in Canada peaked in September 2019 at $1,954. They trended downwards afterward (before the pandemic started) until April 2021, when the average was just under $1,700. Since then they rose quickly until October 2021, when they plateaued until May 2022.
