Further proof the local rental market may be increasingly unaffordable
Posted September 14, 2017 7:46 pm.
Last Updated September 14, 2017 9:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There is more proof the rental market in many parts of BC is not only out of control but increasingly becoming unaffordable.
New numbers from a local blog called PadMapper shows the median price of a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver has gone up but rent for a two-bedroom place has dropped a bit.
Overall, the blog looked at 25 major cities across the country and it found Vancouver was still the most expensive place to live in Canada.
The median price for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,020, which according to PadMapper, is up 1.5 per cent from last month. However, rent for a two-bedroom place dropped 1.3 per cent to $3,160.
Toronto, Barrie, Montreal, Victoria and Kelowna rounded out the top six spots on the list.
If you’re done with this housing market and want to get into a place you can afford, you may want to think about heading east. The median price for a one-bedroom apartment in Saguenay, Que. is $640 and a two-bedroom apartment is going for $730.
These numbers come as the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports just over 9,100 residential units were sold in August, that’s up 2.4 per cent from the same time last year. Total sales dollar volume was $6.2 billion, which is up 22 per cent from August 2016. The average price for a residential home in BC is $678,186, a 19 per cent increase from August 2016.
“BC home sales in August remained unchanged from July, on a seasonally adjusted basis,” says Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Strong economic conditions are underpinning demand. However, rising home prices combined with upward pressure on mortgage interest rates is expected to temper demand over the balance of the year.”
He adds homes sales dropped 15 per cent to 73,267 units.
