– 4 in 10 households spend more than 30 percent of their pre-tax income on rent, this is above the commonly accepted affordability threshold.

Talk to anyone renting a place in a large city like Toronto or Vancouver, and you’ll probably hear a common complaint: Rental units are hard to find and very expensive when you do.

The most recent comprehensive market survey by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. would seem to back up those claims. According to CMHC’s rental market report published in late fall 2018, the national vacancy rate has dropped to 2.4 per cent, while the average rent is $987.

But a closer look at the report paints a stark picture in the larger markets. The largest increases in average rent for two-bedroom apartments from the previous year were in B.C., more specifically in Kelowna (+9.4 per cent), Victoria (+7.6 per cent), Abbotsford-Mission (+8.2 per cent) and Vancouver (+5.5 per cent).

Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton saw increases in rent by 2.8 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively

The average rent for a two-bedroom condo in Toronto topped the list at $2,393 while in Vancouver it was $2,034. Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton all had average rents at $1,208, 1,533 and $1,392 respectively.

Meanwhile, the lowest rental condominium vacancy rates were observed in Vancouver (0.3%), Victoria (0.4%), Kelowna (0.6%), Toronto (0.7%) and Hamilton (0.9%).

Article sourced from Dominion Lending Centres – 2019 Special Edition – The Mortgage Annual