News1130 – ALL NEWS RADIO.:Lower Mainland rents still high, vacancies still low Katharine Kitts VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – In the midst of all of the frenzy around buying real estate in the Vancouver market, little attention has been paid to what the situation is for renters.
A simple check on Craigslist, and it’s easy to see, people are shelling out thousands of dollars a month for small spaces around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. A two-bedroom apartment on Denman will cost you about $2500, $1100 in Abbotsford. To make matters worse, Cameron Muir with the BC Real Estate Association says vacancy rates in Vancouver are low.
“The vacancy rate in Vancouver overall right now is 0.9 % which is identical to what it was a year ago. And when you get to the downtown core, it’s going to be much lower than that,” says Muir. He says compared to other big cities, rent in Vancouver is still cheaper than Toronto, but purchase prices are higher. Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation numbers show the average rate for a one-bedroom in Vancouver is 904 dollars – if you’re lucky.