Although Canada has seen a recent decline in rent prices, reaching long-time lows in many major cities, affordability challenges persist, experts say.
The average asking rent for residential properties in the country fell to $2,139 in November, marking the lowest level in 15 months, according to the National Rent Report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation.
Representing a 1.6 per cent decline in comparison to last year, this nationwide decrease continues a trend which started in July, the report says. In B.C., average apartment rents fell by 2.3 per cent over the past year to $2,524 in November.
Vancouver continues to lead the charts as Canada鈥檚 most expensive city, with an average rent for a single-bedroom apartment costing $2,534 last month. Yet, prices seem to have cooled down a little and rates decreased by 2.9 per cent in comparison to October and 11.9 per cent over last year - one of the steepest drops in Canada - reaching a 30-month low.
Although Victoria continues to rank among Canada鈥檚 priciest cities for renters, holding the ninth spot in the latest report, the data shows some better numbers by a slim margin.
The average asking rent for a one-bedroom unit in the city was $2,091 in November, with a 1.3 per cent dip from the previous year. On the other hand, two-bedroom units averaged $2,815, showing a smaller monthly decrease of 1.8 per cent but a yearly increase of 1 per cent.
Giacomo Ladas, associate director of communications at Rentals.ca, attributed the national dip in rental prices to a combination of potential factors. The first one is a recent increase in housing stock entering the market, he explained.
鈥淲e've seen鈥� throughout 2024 a record high in new supply,鈥� said Ladas. 鈥淲e have been under-supplied for literally the last 30 or 40 years and we're still way far behind, but we are seeing more supply."
Another factor, Ladas mentioned, might have to do with a recent slowdown in population growth, coupled with a decline in international students.
He added that a shift in renters鈥� preferences could partly explain this downward trend.
鈥淲e've seen a real de-prioritization of living downtown cores,鈥� said Ladas. 鈥淲e've also seen wage stagnation and people just having less money to move to these more expensive areas and therefore they're going to secondary markets鈥� in search of more affordable rents.鈥�
While rents remain high compared to historical averages, they have grown at a slower pace over the past year. On a two-year scale, rents are up 6.7 per cent, and compared to three years ago, they鈥檝e risen 18.8 per cent.
While B.C. and Ontario experienced declines, province regions saw notable increases showing mixed results nationwide. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba recorded rent growth of 3.7, 12.1, and 7.9 per cent respectively, while in the Maritimes, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, rents saw 5.1 and 4.4 per cent increases over the past year.
Despite these lower numbers, affordability challenges persist in many major cities noted Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, highlighting that this downward trend has been 鈥渧ery mild鈥� overall.
鈥淒eclines so far are mainly focused within the secondary market for condos and houses, mostly in B.C. and Ontario, while purpose-built rents are stable.鈥�
While it鈥檚 impossible to say whether this trend marks the beginning of a prolonged decline in the rental market, Ladas noted that the numbers in the coming months may favour renters.
鈥淲e're now entering the off-season when people typically want to move less,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t this time of year, we see less supply and less demand and usually [rents] can get a little bit more of softer.鈥�
Ladas concluded by mentioning that factors such as bearish interest rates, upcoming federal elections, and possible enactment of new policies could drive rental prices down across the nation.
