Vancouver continues to see the highest rent in Canada for both one and two-bedroom apartments.
Rentals.ca, an online apartment rental platform, has released its January 2022 National Rent Rankings report, which is based on data from its monthly listings.
The average rent for all Canadian properties listed on the website in December was $1,789, up 3.8 per cent annually, note report authors. "This is the fourth consecutive month with a positive annual change in average rent following 16 consecutive months of decline."
With this in mind, the average rent decreased month-over-month for the first time since April, falling 1.5 per cent from $1,818 per month in November.
"Rental rates tend to fall in December as prospective tenants are concentrating on the holidays and not looking for apartments. It is not likely that the Omicron virus was the culprit, as average rents declined 1.8% monthly in December 2020, and 3.3% monthly in December 2019," note report authors.
Vancouver continues to lead the list of 35 cities with the highest average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $2,176 and a two-bedroom at $2,7983. Toronto sits in the second spot, with one-bedrooms costing an average of $2,013 and two-bedrooms coming in at $2,715.
Etobicoke, ON had the third-highest monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $1,857 and two-bedroom apartments at $2,408. Mississauga, ON followed in fourth, with one-bedrooms costing an average of $1,772 and two-bedrooms coming in at $2,140.
York, ON rounded out the top five, with one-bedroom rentals costing an average of $1,706 and two-bedrooms sitting at $2,250.
In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, the average rent per-square-foot for condo and rental apartments also increased year-over-year. In Q4-2021, the average rent per-square-foot was $2.44, which was an increase of 2.5 per cent from the Q4-2020 average of $2.38.
"The average unit size was virtually unchanged year over year at 782 square feet in Q4-2021 versus 784 square feet a year earlier. Over the last three years, the market peak was Q2-2019 at $2.60 per-square-foot, where the average size was larger at 819 square feet," states the report.
Provincial Rental Rates
Rentals.ca notes that the average rent in B.C. increased 7.3 per cent annually in 2021 to $2,171 per month. Ontario also saw a rise in prices, with rent increasing annually by 5.4 per cent to $2,087 per month.
Nova Scotia saw a significant increase in average rental prices year-over-year. In 2020, the average price for a rental unit was $1,683 per month. In 2021, it was $1,813 per month--an annual increase of 7.7 per cent.
"Anecdotally, it has been reported there has been an influx of Ontario residents moving to Nova Scotia since the pandemic started, driving up rental rates there," highlight report authors.
In contrast, residents of the Northwest Territories saw a sizable decrease in rental prices of 4.8 per cent to $1,778 per month.
Vancouver's average rent per-square-foot was steadily declining throughout 2020 "before sharply recovering to the levels experienced at the start of 2019."
The average rent per-square-foot hit a low of $3.29 in the early part of 2021 before rising to $3.84 in December 2021.
