Average rent in Canada down 7.6% year over year

• The year-over-year average rent for a condo apartment $400 per month cheaper in Vancouver and Toronto.

• Living near transit, schools, groceries most important for renters in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.

• Vancouver tops the list of 40 cities for the highest rent for a two-bedroom.

Rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments and condominium rentals are down year over year, while the average rent for all Canadian properties has remained almost the same the last three months of August, July and June, according to Rentals.ca’s and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s latest National Rent Report. 

In August, the average rent for all property types listed on Rentals.ca in the country was $1,769, down $2 from July’s $1,771 and $1 from June’s $1,700. The August average monthly rate is down 7.6 percent annually.

The average one-bedroom unit was offered at $1,597 per month in August, down 6 percent annually, and is almost $100 cheaper than January of this year. 

Two-bedroom units have not declined as sharply as one-bedrooms, with the $1,894 per month average asking rent down 4.7 percent from a year earlier.

Lower demand is likely reflecting job losses; less immigration; many post-secondary schools going virtual in the fall; the lack of tourism deflating the short-term rental market; many young professionals moving back in with their parents; low interest rates encouraging buying and a shift to cheaper areas with more employees working from home and choosing a less expensive housing market. 

Vancouver continues to lead the list of Canadian cities with the highest average monthly rent for a two-bedroom home in August at $2,709. 

But the city finished sixth on the list of 40 cities for average monthly rent for a one-bedroom at $1,872. 

This is the third straight month Vancouver average monthly rents for both a one-bedroom and two-bedroom home have declined year over year. 

In August, average monthly rents in Vancouver were down year over year 5.1 percent for a one-bedroom home and down 2.3 percent for a two-bedroom. Month over month, rents were down 2 percent for a one-bedroom, but they were up 2 percent for a two-bedroom.

Toronto still led the list in August for the highest average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home at $2,013, but rents for a one-bedroom in the city have dropped for six straight months. 

Burnaby finished 12th for average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home in August at $1,680 and eighth for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,185.

Richmond came in 15th for average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home in August at $1,608 and 16th for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $1,966. 

Victoria came in 16th for average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home at $1,570 and 18th for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $1,939. 

New Westminster finished 18th for average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home in August at $1,536 and 10th for average monthly rent for a two-bedroom at $2,150. 

“The average rent for all property types in Canada remains flat, but rental rates for the most expensive central properties in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal continue to decline,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. “Despite the lower rent levels and incentives offered by landlords recently, there is less financial motivation to move during a pandemic, especially with Ontario freezing rent hikes on all rent-controlled properties for 2021. The lifting of COVID-19 eviction bans in several provinces could lead to further supply hitting the market and further depressing rent levels.” 

Condominium apartments have experienced rent declines annually in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton.

In Vancouver and Toronto, the average asking rent for a condominium apartment is over $400 per month cheaper in August 2020 compared to August 2019. In Montreal, it is almost $350 cheaper. 

Kitchener led the way for year-over-year growth for average monthly rents for rental and condominium apartments among major municipalities in Canada at 14.6 percent. 

Vancouver's average monthly rents for rental and condominium apartments were unchanged at $2,241. 

Three Quebec municipalities, Montreal, Gatineau and Quebec City, have seen growth of 14 percent, 10 percent and 5 percent respectively, contributing to the large rent growth in the province. 

Annual rental rates for rental and condo apartments in Toronto dropped 11.7 percent while dropping 11.5 percent in North York and 9.0 percent in Etobicoke. 

Red Deer has seen an 18 percent decrease in year-over-year average rents for rental and condo apartments.

The chart below ranks municipalities and former municipalities based on online pageviews on Rentals.ca showing which cities renters are looking around, thinking of moving or having to move. 

Toronto has been the number one ranked municipality in the country every month this year (pre-amalgamation boundaries, ie Old Toronto). Ottawa and Montreal continue to flip-flop between second and third. 

Vancouver, which was ranked ninth in February and March of 2020, jumped to fourth during the majority of the pandemic period. 

The biggest mover on the list was Burnaby, rising from 23rd early in the year to 13th in August. Three areas within the amalgamated City of Toronto: Etobicoke, Scarborough and York have dropped by at least three spots each since January. 

In the Vancouver and Montreal metro areas, the most important amenity to would-be tenants, according to Local Logic is transit, with transit-friendly being the second most important amenity to tenants in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). Elementary schools are also important to tenants in the Toronto CMA, taking the top ranking, with daycare ranking eighth. Proximity to groceries and good high schools are also highly ranked amenities across the three geographic areas. Other notable rankings include quiet outranking vibrant. "Interest in living near a grocery store is the highest it's been since Local Logic started reporting these numbers in March -- higher even than peak pandemic," said Guy Tsror, data scientist for Local Logic. He said in Montreal, there was a 28 percent increase in the past three months, from just under 11 percent of renters looking at nearby grocery stores in May, compared to almost 14 percent in August. Shopping is more important than nightlife. Car-friendly is more important than pedestrian-friendly or cycle-friendly. And lastly, restaurants and cafes are more important than parks.

Other takeaways from the September National Rent Report include:

• On a provincial level, Ontario had the highest rental rates in August, with landlords seeking $2,071 per month on average (all property types); this is down 10.8 percent annually. British Columbia had the second-highest rental rate at $2,001 per month, up 5.7 percent year over year.

• Quebec is seeing huge rent growth, with the average rent of $1,656 up 15.3 percent annually.

• Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba have all experienced declines in average rent levels year over year, with Alberta down 6.6 percent to $1,206, Saskatchewan down 9.5 percent to $1,020, and Manitoba down 17.0 percent to $1,240 per month.

• As many offices start to re-open for white-collar employees, demand could start to shift back to central core areas of major municipalities. As the Local Logic data shows, despite the major drop in transit usage since the COVID-19 pandemic started, tenants are still interested in rental housing in proximity to transit.

• There is a significant gap between the rents charged in Ottawa versus Gatineau. Ottawa’s downtown average monthly rents are mostly between $1,900 and $2,050. Right across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, the average rent in many of the surrounding areas have rental rates that average close to $1,000 per month.

• Lloydminster took the last spot on the list for cheapest rents, with Red Deer coming in next to last. Average monthly rents in Red Deer are down 19.5 percent annually for a one-bedroom and 15.9 percent for a two-bedroom.

The National Rent Report charts and analyzes monthly, quarterly and annual rates and trends in the rental market on a national, provincial, and municipal level across all listings on Rentals.ca for Canada. 

The Rentals.ca numbers show vacated properties that better reflect current values. The figures better represent the actual rents a potential tenant would encounter when seeking to rent an apartment. 

Authors: Matt Danison (md@rentals.ca) and Ben Myers (ben@bullpenconsulting.ca)