Itsa国际传媒 easier than it has been in many years to find an apartment in greater sa国际传媒, newly-released vacancy rates indicate.聽
Across the Central Okanagan, the apartment vacancy rate has tripled over the past year, from 1.3 per cent to 3.8 per cent.聽
The information comes from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., which every year produces a raft of rental data for Canadasa国际传媒 17 largest cities.聽
sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 current apartment rental vacancy rate is third-highest in the country, lower than only Calgary at 4.8 per cent and St. John, N.B., at 4.0 percent. Itsa国际传媒 also significantly higher than the national apartment vacancy rate of 2.2 per cent.聽
The dramatic increase in apartment vacancies in the Central Okanagan reflects the surge of new construction that has taken place in recent years.聽
Building permits hit a record level of $1.8 billion in 2023, with most of that coming in large-scale residential projects, but the value of new construction has plunged dramatically in 2024. Expectations for this year are for building permit total of about $600 million, which is around the annual average for the past decade.聽
鈥淭he real estate market is cyclical, and we expected this cycle to happen,鈥 top city planner Ryan Smith told city councillors on Sept. 24. 鈥淚f I had to guess, I would say this year is probably going to be the bottom of the cycle, probably into next spring. And then we鈥檒l see a stronger 2025.鈥
The apartment vacancy rate has not been this high in sa国际传媒 since 2012, when it was just under four per cent. Before that, going back to 1991, the rate was only above four percent from 1996 to 1998.聽
While sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 apartment vacancy rates have increased in the last year, so too has the average rent, the CMHC report indicates.聽
A typical two-bedroom apartment rented for $1,805 in the fall of 2023, but that had risen to $1,935 by October of this year.聽
The rise in sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 apartment rental vacancy rate could have implications for the short-term vacation rental business. Under provincial regulations, municipalities that experience two consecutive years of vacancy rates above three per cent can ask to opt-out of the rules that effectively prohibit people from renting out secondary properties to tourists.聽
That prohibition, designed to increase housing stock for long-term renters, has been controversial, with hundreds of short-term rental listings disappearing in sa国际传媒. Critics say theresa国际传媒 been a commensurate rise in hotel and motel room rates, with an overall negative effect on the regionsa国际传媒 crucial tourism economy.
Here are the apartment vacancy rates for the other centres tracked by CMHC in sa国际传媒:聽
- Vancouver, 1.6 per cent
- Victoria, 2.6 per cent
- Kamloops, 1.4 per cent聽
- Abbotsford-Mission, 1.1 per cent
- Chilliwack, 1.3 per cent
- Nanaimo, 2.9 per cent聽
