Rental supply gains help cool pace of rent growth in 2024: CMHC

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the pace of rent growth cooled significantly this year amid Canada’s largest gain of purpose-built rental supply in more than three decades.

The federal housing agency says the vacancy rate for purpose-built rental apartments sat at 2.2 per cent in October when the CMHC conducted the annual survey, up from the record low of 1.5 per cent last year.

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The average rent for a two-bedroom purpose-built apartment, which the CMHC uses as its representative sample, grew 5.4 per cent to $1,447, compared with an eight per cent increase in 2023.

The figures represent actual amounts tenants pay for their units, meaning average prices often appear lower than those listed in other reports which measure average asking rents set by landlords.

Canada’s supply of purpose-built rental apartments grew 4.1 per cent year-over-year, the highest increase in more than 30 years.

Meanwhile, the average rent for a two-bedroom rental condo was $2,199, with the vacancy rate for such units remaining unchanged at 0.9 per cent annually.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press