May marked the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year decreases across asking rent prices. At $2,129, Canada’s national average asking rent was 3.3% lower than in May 2024.
Monthly reports from Rentals.ca and Urbanation state that asking rents stayed steady from April, with only a 0.1% month-over-month increase.
Built-to-rent apartment asking rents dropped 2% from last year to $2,117 on average. Meanwhile, asking rents for condominium apartments dipped 3.6% to $2,192.
Additionally, rents for houses and townhomes fell 7% to $2,196.
Why the decreases?
Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand explained that a surge in newly completed apartments on the market has led to lower rent prices. Slowed population growth and higher economic uncertainty are also factors.
“The easing in rents this year across most parts of the country is a positive for housing affordability in Canada following a period of extremely strong rent inflation lasting from 2022 to 2024,” Hildebrand stated in a news release.
Data in the report showed that average asking rents in Canada are 5.7% higher than during 2023 and 12.6% more than in 2022.
On average, rents in Canada have jumped by 4.1 per cent annually since 2020 — which has outpaced average wage growth of approximately three per cent, the report added.
Provincial rent declines
Ontario experienced the largest rent decline in May, with asking rents falling 3.6% year-over-year to an average of $2,335. Next was B.C.’s 2.6% decrease to $2,462 and Alberta’s 2.4% decrease to $1,745 and Quebec’s 1.8% decrease to $1,964.
Saskatchewan led the way for year-over-year rent growth, at 3.9 per cent, to an average of $1,386, followed by Nova Scotia at 2.1 per cent to $2,284 and Manitoba at 0.1 per cent to $1,624.
Rental decreases by city
Apartment rents also fell in four of Canada’s six largest cities, with the other two recording less than one per cent annual growth (Global News).
Calgary saw the biggest drop at 7.9% to $1,928, followed by a 6.8% annual decrease in Toronto to $2,594 and a 5.9% decline in Vancouver to $2,830.
Montreal apartment rents were down 3.3% to $1,970, while rents in Edmonton ticked up 0.7 per cent to $1,561 and 0.4 per cent in Ottawa to $2,198.
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