Rental Market Survey (Province of Quebec, Fall 2011)

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwire - Dec. 13, 2011) - According to the results of the Rental Market Survey conducted by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the overall vacancy rate for Quebec's urban centres remained essentially unchanged from October of last year, having reached 2.6 per cent in 2011, compared to 2.7 per cent in 2010.

The stability reflected the overall situation observed in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) across the province. That being said, three of these areas registered statistically significant changes in their vacancy rates. They were the Québec CMA, where the increase of about half a percentage point resulted from softer conditions in several market segments, and the Saguenay and Montréal areas, which recorded decreases in their vacancy rates.

Similar conditions prevailed elsewhere across the province. While the overall vacancy rate inhabitants remained stable, nearly 75 per cent of the 38 agglomerations with 10,000 to 99,000 inhabitants recorded notable changes in their vacancy rates.

"While the changes in rental market conditions across Quebec continued to reflect the effects of the fundamentals on supply and demand, the diverse prevailing environments were such that these impacts varied depending on the areas," explained Kevin Hughes, Senior Economist with CMHC for the province of Quebec.

The average rent for all Quebec urban centres reached $665 in October this year. While the provincial average generally reflected the situation for all CMAs, the Montréal, Québec and Gatineau areas stood out with average rents of about $700, whereas the other three CMAs had monthly averages of around $550. When excluding new structures, it is estimated that, since October 2010, the average rent in Quebec has risen by 2.6 per cent.

According to CMHC's affordability indicator, Quebec's major rental markets were still among the most affordable in the country this past fall. Once again this year, CMHC's affordability indicator remained relatively stable in the province's large urban centres.

According to the Secondary Rental Market Survey results, about 9.3 per cent (10,744 units) of the condominiums in the Montréal CMA were rental units in October 2011, a proportion almost identical to that estimated last year. As well, the vacancy rate for these dwellings, which had risen from 2.7 per cent in 2009 to 4.2 per cent last year, went back down to 2.8 per cent this year. In the Québec CMA, the condominium housing stock also increased over last year. However, the number of rental units decreased, such that their proportion of the total fell (from 8.1 per cent in 2010 to 6.3 per cent in 2011). The vacancy rate, on the other hand, rose slightly, from 1.7 per cent last year to 2.3 per cent this year.

As for the differences in rents between rental condominiums and purpose-built rental housing units, the gap was generally wider in the Montréal CMA (56 per cent) than in the Québec CMA (29 per cent).

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of 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.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at http://www.cmhc.ca/housingmarketinformation.

Tables are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/cmha1213.pdf