Average rent in Victoria slightly down for fourth month in a row

For the fourth month in a row, the average rent in Victoria has dropped slightly. 

According to the monthly rent report from Zumper, a rental and data analysis platform, it was 1.9% cheaper to rent a one-bedroom in January than it was in December. 

Since January 2023, one-bedroom units have dropped marginally by 0.5% to an average of $2,030 per month. 

For two-bedroom units, the average monthly rate in Victoria was $2,710, which is 1.8% cheaper than December; however, it is 1.5% more expensive than this time last year. 

With this data, Victoria remains the fourth most expensive city to rent in across Canada. 

Vancouver is once again the most expensive city to rent in, at $2,550 per month for one-bedroom units and $3,460 per month for two-bedrooms.

In this rent report, Burnaby has outpaced Toronto as the second most expensive city to rent in for one bedroom units with Burnaby at $2,300 per month and Toronto at $2,400 per month. 

Another cross-country change in the most expensive cities list is Ottawa dropped out of the top five, with Halifax moving in to take its place as fifth most expensive. 

In terms of national rates, looking at rental data as a whole, rents have dropped for the fourth month in a row. 

Across the country, the average monthly Canadian rent is $1,856 for one-bedrooms, which is down by 0.4%. Two-bedrooms dropped by 0.7% at $2,297 per month. 

“Several factors are putting downward pressure on Canada’s rental market,” reads Zumper’s rent report. 

“A surge in rental completions has significantly increased supply. The number of rental unit starts has nearly doubled since 2018, increasing due to various government incentives. This influx of new units has expanded options for renters, easing the historically tight market conditions.”

Other contributing factors are the completion of units outpacing population growth in cities like Vancouver and Toronto as well as there being lower rates of immigration because of the federal government lowering targets.  

The cheapest major city to rent across Canada is Saskatoon at $1,230 per month for one-bedroom units and $1,450 per month for two-bedrooms.