A recent report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation highlights how rental housing affordability has worsened in B.C.’s most densely populated regions, Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria, over the past year.
Despite both areas continuing to add more rental supply in 2023, population growth caused by record immigration stoked demand for more rental housing in both regions.
In Surrey, the private apartment average rent went from $1,099/month for a bachelor suite to $1,335; for a one-bedroom, it went from $1,365 to $1,449, with two-bedroom rent going from $1,531 to $1,663.
In White Rock, rent for a bachelor increased slightly, going from $1,016 to $1,025 per month, but rent for a one-bedroom went from $1,185 to $1,390 – an increase of more than $200 per month.
READ MORE: Rental squeeze tighter in Vancouver, Victoria despite growing supply: CMHC
Two-bedroom rent in White Rock went from $1,559 to $1,666/month, according to the CMHC report.
Rent for three-bedroom-plus homes increased by less than $100 in 2023; the information for that increase was not available for White Rock.
For more details, visit cmhc-schl.gc.ca
– with files from Wolfgang Depner