October 2020 Canadian Rent Report

The rent free fall in the 2 priciest markets may hit a floor soon

Toronto and Vancouver both had relatively flat months in terms of rent price changes with Toronto two-bedrooms even seeing a slight increase of 0.8%. Though both these markets still had double-digit year-over-year declines, the monthly tapering may signal that the downswings are decelerating and a rent price floor may be hit soon. One-bedroom rents for both cities were hovering at or just above the $2,000 threshold.

The rest of the top markets experienced a mixed bag of changes as Burnaby, the 3rd most expensive city, saw rents down on all fronts, while Victoria, the next priciest market, saw rents grow into the double digits since this time last year. Aside from the 3 most expensive cities, the majority of Canadian cities had growing rents on a yearly basis.

Top 5 Most Expensive Markets

1. Toronto, ON one-bedroom rent decreased 1% to $2,050, while two-bedrooms grew 0.8% to $2,650. On a year-over-year basis, rents for both bedroom types are down around 11%.

2. Vancouver, BC rents had a flat month with one and two-bedrooms staying flat at $2,000 and $2,750, respectively. However, two-bedroom rent in this city is down 15% since this time last year.

3. Burnaby, BC saw one-bedroom rent dip 2.4% to $1,660, while two-bedrooms dropped a slight 0.4% to $2,280.

4. Victoria, BC, one-bedroom rent increased 2.5% to $1,650, while two-bedrooms decreased 0.5% to $1,980. In stark contrast to the top 3 priciest cities, rents for both bedroom types in Victoria are up over 13% since this time last year.

5. Kelowna, BC moved up a spot and into the top 5 markets, though one-bedroom rent dropped 3.2% to $1,500, while two-bedroom rent decreased 2.2% to $1,750.

5. Ottawa, ON jumped up 2 positions to become tied with Kelowna as 5th. One-bedroom rent in this city stayed flat at $1,500, while two-bedrooms grew 0.6% to $1,790.

Cities with The Largest Monthly Changes

Upward

–Halifax, NS ranked as the 14th priciest market. One-bedroom rent jumped 5.1% to $1,230 last month, while two-bedroom rent grew 5.2% to $1,620.

–Abbotsford, BC one-bedroom rent climbed 4.3%, settling at $1,210, and up 1 spot to become the 15th most expensive. Two-bedrooms had an even larger growth rate, increasing 5.3% to $1,400.

–St. Catharines, ON moved up 1 position to rank as 12th. One-bedroom rent grew 4% to $1,300, while two-bedrooms remained flat at $1,500.

Downward

–Barrie, ON dropped 2 spots, and out of the top 5, to become the 7th priciest city. One-bedroom rent fell 5.1%, which was the largest monthly decline in the nation, to $1,480, while two-bedrooms dipped 1.8% to $1,670.

–Calgary, AB ranked as the 17th most expensive city with one-bedroom rent decreasing 2.6% to $1,120, while two-bedrooms remained flat at $1,340.

–Québec, QC one-bedroom rent took a 2% dip to $960 and ranked as the 21st most expensive.

Full Data: