Some promising news for those searching for a place to rent in BC.
According to a recent analysis and report by Rentals.ca, rental asking prices have dropped across the province over the past two years.
The rental report says that prices are down in BC by 8.5% over the past two years, and 5.5% in the past year alone.
Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, says that this drop in rent costs is a direct result of the Province’s policies.
“In the past two years, we’ve taken unprecedented action to deliver more homes for people and tackle speculation,” said Boyle.
“Our housing action plan is having an impact, with vacancy rates rising and asking rents consistently dropping.”
Most notable in the rental report is that Vancouver saw the largest drop in rent costs throughout Canada, at 16.9% in the past two years and 8.2% in the past year.
Vancouver is currently at a 41-month low, with one-bedrooms down approximately $500 a month when compared to rental costs in 2023.
Of the 60 most expensive cities in Canada to rent in, Victoria ranks 19th, with one-bedroom units costing around $2,013 per month and two-bedroom units costing around $2,651.
According to Rentals.ca, this marks a 7.5% decrease in cost since this time last year for one-bedrooms and a 7.4% decrease for two-bedrooms.
Victoria is one of many cities in BC to have been given housing targets by the Province in order to increase the supply and ease demand, thus raising the vacancy rate of the city to a manageable level.
The housing target of 4,902 units in five years was given to Victoria, and so far, the City says it is on track to achieve this target having surpassed their goal of 659 homes built in year one.
“We know there is so much more do to [sic] address housing costs for people,” said Boyle. “That is why we need to stick to our plan.”
“While some want to cancel our actions and take us back to empty homes and neighbourhoods, we know we need to keep moving forward.”
Aside from Victoria, Nanaimo was the only other municipality on Vancouver Island to land on the rental report’s top 60 most expensive cities to rent in.
Nanaimo is positioned at number 30, with one-bedrooms costing around $1,860 per month and two-bedroom units costing near $2,286 per month.
Rentals.ca releases their national rental report on a monthly basis to provide a snapshot of how the rental landscape is evolving throughout Canada.
