Low vacancy, limited rental supply in Victoria: study
A report released Wednesday by the online rental company Rentals.ca paints a bleak picture of Victoria's rental housing market.
Rental asking prices across Canada have gone up by 8.9 per cent this year, with the average asking price in Canada for a one-bedroom surpassing the $2,000 mark for the first time ever.
According to Rentals.ca, Vancouver has the highest asking price for a one-bedroom apartment in the country, up by 16.2 per cent this July year over last July, followed by Toronto, where it’s up by more than 13 per cent.
However, Victoria ranked way down in 11th place for one-bedroom rentals, and asking prices had actually gone down by seven per cent since last July. Two-bedroom rentals are down by 2.4 per cent.
Giacomo Ladas, spokesperson for Rentals.ca, said Wednesday that the explanation for this phenomenon is that Victoria’s vacancy rate has dropped this July compared to last, and those few places that are being listed for rent are not high-end rentals.
“Apartment composition has a big part to play in this,” said Ladas.
“The vacancy rate in Victoria is extremely low, it’s actually below one per cent, which means there are fewer new units coming to market. And this will affect reducing the average rent, because we're not seeing a large influx of purpose-built rentals being built, which in turn has a large influx of new leases being signed at those premium prices.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he does not regret calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko,' and now his MPs are renewing calls for the House of Commons Speaker to resign, this time over ordering the Official Opposition leader to leave the chamber.
Is it cold, flu or norovirus? Symptoms explained
The highly contagious norovirus is spreading across Canada, with some symptoms overlapping with other viruses. CTVNews.ca spoke with a health expert to find out how you can tell you have norovirus, the most common form of stomach flu, and what to do if you have it.
Ontario's police watchdog continues probe of high-speed pursuit involving fatal crash
The investigation continues into a collision that killed two grandparents and their infant grandchild during a high-speed police chase on the wrong way of Highway 401 east of Toronto.
Stranded cruise passengers in Spain race to catch up with their ship
A month after eight Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were stranded in Africa when their ship left without them because they were late getting back, a U.S. couple – ages 84 and 81 – were also left behind by the cruise line in Spain.
London Drugs expected to give update on store status following 'cybersecurity incident'
Days after dozens of London Drugs locations closed due to a 'cybersecurity incident,' a spokesperson for the company says an update on the stores' status is expected Wednesday morning.
No criminal charges after 4 newborn bodies found in Boston freezer
A prosecutor in Massachusetts won't seek criminal charges against anyone, two years after four newborns were found in a freezer in a South Boston apartment.
Anger can harm your blood vessel function, study shows
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Ontario woman surprised after 20-year-old fines suddenly tank credit score
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.