Victoria rent for one-bedroom climbs 1% from month prior: reports

Rent in Victoria has risen from the month before, with one-bedroom units increasing one per cent, and two-bedroom units increasing between three to five per cent, according to two reports.

Rentals.ca and Zumper each put out monthly rent reports, analyzing rental data across the country. Rentals.ca analyzed data in 35 Canadian cities, and Zumper analyzed 22.

According to Rentals.ca, a one-bedroom unit in Victoria was being listed for $2,080 per month in August, an increase of 1.2 per cent from July and a 0.5 per cent increase from August 2022.

Zumper has a similar price point for a one-bedroom unit, with the cost being $2,040 per month, a one per cent increase from July and 3.6 per cent increase from August 2022.

The two reports differ, however, in the cost for a two-bedroom unit.

Rentals.ca lists the price at $2,883 for a two-bedroom unit in Victoria, a monthly increase of 4.7 per cent and year-over-year at 3.4 per cent. Zumper lists the price of a two-bedroom at $2,750, which it says is a three per cent monthly increase and 7.8 per cent increase from the year before.

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Both reports cite Vancouver, Toronto and Burnaby as the three most expensive cities to rent in Canada, with Zumper placing Victoria in fourth place, and Rentals.ca placing the city in 11th.

Of the cities in between fourth and 11th on Rentals.ca list, Zumper only analyzed one of them, which is Kelowna. The two reports differ on Kelowna’s placement with Rentals.ca citing it as the ninth most expensive city, two places above Victoria, and Zumper listing it as the 10th most expensive, which is six places below Victoria.

Nationally, Rentals.ca says asking rents have increased by 5.1 per cent, reaching $1,849 for a one-bedroom, $2,183 for two-bedrooms, and $2,471 for three.

Zumper has similar prices nationally, with a one-bedroom costing an average of $1,870, and two-bedrooms costing $2,337.

“With remarkable population growth and high mortgage rates, the swelling demand for rental housing in Canada is far outpacing available supply so this is putting significant upward pressure on rent prices,” Zumper said in its report. “Until there is more housing built, rents will remain high and rising through the fall.”

Rentals.ca cites the country’s record-high population growth and the “sharp deterioration in homeownership affordability” as factors in the rising costs.

Broken down by province, B.C. has the highest average rent in the country, according to Rentals.ca.

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