Major centres in Alberta are among the most affordable in the country, according to the May national rent report produced by Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research & Consulting.
Asking rents in Alberta decreased in April by 0.7 per cent from March, dropping to $1,294 per month from $1,303 per month.
Toronto leads the country with average monthly rents of $2,242 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,731 for a two-bedroom.
Here’s how Alberta cities ranked in the report’s top 30 National Rent Rankings:
- Fort McMurray 13 – $1,329 (one bedroom), $1,477 (two bedroom)
- Calgary 14 – $1310 (one bedroom), $1441 (two bedroom)
- Edmonton 21 – $1,100 (one bedroom), $1334 (two bedroom)
- Grand Prairie #26 – $1054 (one bedroom), $1,250 (two bedroom)
- Red Deer 27 – $1,002 (one bedroom), $1,155 (two bedroom)
- Lethbridge 29 – $863 (one bedroom), $1,087 (two bedroom)
Here are the percentage changes month-over-month for each centre for one-bedroom places:
- Fort McMurray, +1.8 per cent
- Calgary, +1.7 per cent
- Edmonton, -2.6 per cent
- Grand Prairie, +2.6 per cent
- Red Deer, -0.7 per cent
- Lethbridge, 0.0 per cent
Here are the percentage changes month-over-month for each centre for two-bedroom places:
- Fort McMurray, +5.2 per cent
- Calgary, -0.2 per cent
- Edmonton, -3.5 per cent
- Grande Prairie, +1.5 per cent
- Red Deer, -2.2 per cent
- Lethbridge, +3.4 per cent
In April, there were 14,697 new housing completions in Canada, the highest total of the year. That added new rental supply and likely contributed to the cooler rental rates, said the report.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
National housing market faces shakeup
Ben Myers of Bullpen Research & Consulting talks about how markets are changing across the country
“Also, the general consensus among economists is that there will be no mortgage rate increase in 2019, which may spur some tenants to jump into the ownership housing market, freeing up units for other prospective tenants and easing upward rent inflation pressures,” added the report.
“I’ve conducted a number of rental market studies for developers and landowners over the past six months, as the rapid growth in rental rates for new purpose-built apartment projects has made the economics of new rental development look much better,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. “As shown in the report, the average rent for newer two-bedroom rental apartments in Toronto is nearly $3,000 per month.”
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