Apartment vacancy rate dips to 2.6% in April

Fewer apartments were available for rent in April as vacancy rates dropped slightly across Canada to 2.6 per cent, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Thursday.

In year-over-year comparisons, vacancy rates in April 2007 were 2.8 per cent.

Vacancy RatesRegion(population of 10,000+)April 2007 (%)April 2008 (%) N.L. 4.2 3.2 P.E.I. 5.7 4.9 Nova Scotia 3.8 3.4 New Brunswick 6.0 5.3 Quebec 2.4 2.5 Ontario 3.9 3.1 Manitoba 1.4 1.0 Saskatchewan 3.2 1.2Alberta0.92.9 British Columbia 1.21.1

"High levels of immigration and the increasing gap between the cost of home ownership and renting continue to drive rental demand in 2008," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist, in a release. "These factors have put downward pressure on vacancy rates over the past year."

Availability tightened in British Columbia's cities, with the exception of Abbotsford, owing to high housing prices and rising migration, the CMHC said.

An influx of workers leaving Central and Atlantic Canada for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia also helped drive down vacancy rates, the CMHC said.

The national average rate for two-bedroom apartments — excluding newly constructed apartment buildings — increased 3.6 per cent over the previous year, the CMHC said.

Consumers in Calgary paid the highest average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $1,096, followed by Toronto at $1,075 and Vancouver at $1,071. Landlords in Sageunay and Trois-Rivières charged the lowest average rents at $497 and $501 respectively.

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