The rental vacancy rate has eased slightly across all of Metro Vancouver, partly driven by a rise in vacancies on the North Shore, according to new annual data released November 28 by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The federal housing agency said that vacancies in the District of North Vancouver over the past year have risen to 1.7 per cent of total rental housing stock, up from 0.9 per cent in fall 2017. West Vancouver also saw a much-needed easing in vacancy rates, up to still-tight 0.6 per cent, from a very low 0.4 per cent a year ago. However, the City of North Vancouver continued to see a tightening rental market, with its vacancy rate down to 0.8 per cent from 1.3 per cent last year.
Despite the overall increase in supply, average rents on the North Shore continued to rise above inflation, particularly in North Vancouver.
The average rent in the City of North Vancouver was reported as $1,424 this year (all apartments), up 5.8 per cent from one year previously. The District of North Van saw an average rent of $1,584, which is an annual rise of 5.4 per cent. West Vancouver unsurprisingly saw the North Shore’s highest rents, with its average of $1,896 a rise of 2.7 per cent compared with 2017.
Elsewhere in Metro Vancouver, Burnaby’s vacancy rates eased dramatically from 0.7 per cent to 2.0 per cent this year, with a host of new-build apartments coming on stream, particularly in Metrotown. New Westminster, Richmond and Delta also saw slight vacancy rate increases this year. This eased Metro Vancouver’s overall vacancy rate to 1.0 per cent, from 0.9 per cent a year ago.
Vancouver, on the other hand, saw vacancy rates drop from 0.9 per cent to 0.8 per cent this year. Surrey joined Vancouver in a tightening rental market, dropping to a very low 0.4 per cent, compared with 0.6 per cent one year ago. Surrey has recently seen the launch of the first new rental purpose-built building in the city in more than three decades.
The CMHC said that a strong Metro Vancouver economy and the high cost of entry-level homeownership is fuelling rental demand.
Check out the full Metro Vancouver report to see vacancy rates and rental prices by neighbourhood.
