October 2014 Rental Market in St. Catharines-Niagara

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 16, 2014) - The rental apartment vacancy rate¹ in the St. Catharines-Niagara Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) was 3.6 per cent in October, 2014, relatively unchanged² from 4.1 per cent in October, 2013 according to the Fall Rental Market Survey released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

"More young workers getting jobs and fewer people moving out of rental to homeownership because of slow wage growth caused rental demand to grow this year. While less supportive than last year, immigration also added to demand. New additions to the rental universe meant supply grew at a rate similar to demand, which kept the vacancy rate stable in St. Catharines-Niagara," said Edgard Navarrete, CMHC's Market Analyst for St. Catharines-Niagara.

On the basis of a sample of structures common to both the 2013 and 2014 surveys³, the average two-bedroom apartment rent increased by 1.6 per cent in St. Catharines-Niagara.

The apartment vacancy rate remained flat in most of the sub-markets in the St. Catharines-Niagara CMA with some exceptions. The vacancy rate decreased in Welland and St. Catharine's core. The only region where the vacancy rate increased was in Niagara Fall's outer region.

Rental Market data is also available in English and French at the following link: CMA Rental Market Report

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and advice to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

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¹ The survey is based on privately-initiated rental apartment structures of three or more units.

² The change in the vacancy rate for the current year was not significantly different, on a statistical basis, from the previous year.

³ 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 October 2013 and October 2014 surveys provides a better indication of actual rent increases paid by tenants.

Additional data is available upon request.

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