A new survey shows people living in Greater Victoria are paying the third highest rents among 25 major Canadian cities.
The median price for a one-bedroom apartment in the capital region was $1,100 in May, according to Padmapper, a rental search service. Victoria’s rate increased by 1.9 per cent from April.
The capital region follows Vancouver in first place, at $1,700, and then Toronto, at $1,320, for one-bedroom rents, according to Padmapper’s Canada Rent Report.
Calgary closely trailed Victoria with a rate of $1,010 per month.
The other B.C. cities to make the list were Kelowna, in 11th place, with a rate of $900, and Abbotsford, in 20th place, with a rate of $790.
The company said it analyzed hundreds of thousands of listings to identify rent rates.
Padmapper’s report reflects the historically tight rental market in Victoria. Advertisements show that one-bedrooms apartments in the region often easily surpass the $1,000 mark.
The capital region’s vacancy rate was just 0.6 per cent in October, the latest figure available, said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in a May report.
Real estate agents say they are seeing more homes, which had been used for rental income, go up for sale now that the real estate market is hitting new highs in number of sales and in average prices.
