Canada's Rental Vacancy Rate Increases

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 20, 2013) - The average rental apartment vacancy rate in Canada's 35 major centres(1) increased to 2.7 per cent in April 2013, from 2.3 per cent in April 2012, according to the spring Rental Market Survey² released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

"While demand for rental units remains high, substitutes to purpose-built rental market units, such as rented condominiums, have taken some of the overall demand for rental units," said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. "Sustained demand for rental housing from net migration was partly offset by moderating employment growth, notably for young workers aged 20-24."

The results of CMHC's spring survey reveal that the major centres with the lowest vacancy rates in April 2013 were Edmonton and Calgary (1.2 per cent each) and St. John's (1.5 per cent). The major centres with the highest vacancy rates were Saint John (10.4 per cent), Charlottetown (8.7 per cent) and Moncton (7.4 per cent).

The Canadian average two-bedroom rent in new and existing structures was $911 in April 2013. With respect to the Census Metropolitan Areas, the highest average monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments were in Vancouver ($1,255), Toronto ($1,202) and Calgary ($1,202). The lowest average monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments were in Saguenay ($560), Trois-Rivières ($562) and Sherbrooke ($586).

Overall, the average rent for two-bedroom apartments in existing structures across Canada's 35 major centres increased 2.7 per cent between April 2012 and April 2013, up from 2.2 per cent in the previous year. The major centres with the largest increase in fixed sample average rent were Calgary (7.2 per cent), St. John's (5.5 per cent) and Regina (4.7 per cent). Year-over-year comparisons of average rents can be slightly misleading because rents in newly built structures tend to be higher than in existing buildings. Excluding new structures and focusing on structures existing in both the April 2012 and April 2013 surveys provides a better indication of actual rent increases paid by tenants.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

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This release is available CMHC.ca/Newsroom

To access CMHC's 2013 reports on the rental market select from the links below:

• Rental Market Report - Canada Highlights - containing at a glance rental market information for Canada's 35 major centres
• Rental Market Report - Provincial Highlights - providing a summary of rental market statistics for urban centres with populations of 10,000 and more in each province and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
• Rental Market Statistics Report - a sourcebook of statistical tables with national, provincial and local rental housing market data

Note: A table of vacancy rates, availability rates and rents is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Rental_Market_Spring2013.pdf.

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(1) Major centres are based on Statistics Canada Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) with the exception of the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA, which is treated as two centres for Rental Market Survey purposes and Charlottetown, which is a Census Agglomeration (CA).

(2) CMHC's Rental Market Survey is conducted twice a year in April and October, to provide vacancy, availability and rent information on privately initiated structures in all centres with populations of 10,000 and more across Canada. Reports are released in June and December. Note that there are differences between the fall and spring surveys. The spring survey covers apartment and row structures containing at least three rental units, and, unlike the fall survey, does not report information on: a) Smaller geographic zones within centres; b) Secondary rental market (rented condominium apartments, single detached, semi-detached, duplexes or accessory apartments).