Winter is nearly upon Victoria.
With it comes a “wet cold” in the air, perhaps a snowfall or two and surprisingly, slightly cheaper rent.
According to Zumper’s monthly Canadian Rent Report, demand for rentals in Victoria have hit a new low for the year as 2023 comes to a close.
The report says this is in large part due to the fact that people don’t like moving near the holidays which always drives the price of rent down a marginal amount.
Over the last month, nine of the top ten most expensive rental markets saw one-bedroom units dip in price, with the exception of Kelowna where there was no change.
According to the national Canadian rent index, one-bedroom rentals dropped 0.2% to $1,890 per month in December, but that is an average across the country and wishful thinking for most Victorians. Meanwhile, the average two-bedroom climbed by $10 across the country to $2,360 per month.
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Year-over-year, average rates across the country are still increasing with one and two-bedroom rents up 10.6% and 10.8%, respectively.
In terms of Victoria’s rental market specifically, things are slightly less glum.
The city remains Canada’s 4th most expensive major market, which it has been all year; however, average costs for one-bedrooms are down 4.3% to $2,000 and two-bedrooms have dipped 1.8% to $2,740.
Not the best, but not so bad when compared to Vancouver where the average one-bedroom costs around $2,730 per month and two-bedrooms go for around $3,890 per month.
Meanwhile, the least expensive major Canadian Market was Saskatoon over the past month.
There, it costs an average $1,110 per month for a one-bedroom unit and two-bedrooms cost $1,310 per month.
But who wants to move in December, you know?
