Rents across Greater Victoria continue to fall, according to a national survey.
The National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows that the June rent for a one-bedroom in Victoria reached $2,035, down 0.9% from May and 6.6% from June 2024. Rent for a two-bedroom was $2,708, a slight uptick from May but down 5.3% from June of last year.
“Rent decreases at the national level have been mild so far, with the biggest declines mainly seen in the largest and most expensive cities, said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation. "However, it appears that the softening in rents has begun to spread throughout most parts of the country.”
Victoria's one-bedroom rental cost put it in a tie with Brampton, Ont. as the 18th most expensive market in Canada. North Vancouver tops the nation with one-bedroom costs of $2,602 a month, ahead of Vancouver at $2,529 and Coquitlam at $2,331. Burnaby ($2,323) and Toronto ($2,283) rounded out the top five.
The national 2.7% year-over-year rent decline in June was smaller than the 3.3% decline recorded in May. Despite the dip in rents during the past year, average asking rents in Canada remained 4.1% higher than the level from two years earlier ($2,042) and 11.9% higher than the level from three years earlier ($1,899).
Condo apartment rents fell 4.9% and house/townhome rents dropped 6.6% nationally, while purpose-built rentals decreased only 1.1%. Over the past three years, asking rents for purpose-built units were up 24.6%, compared to a 1.6% gain for condo rentals and a 0.2% decline for house and townhome rentals.
Among bedroom types, one- and two-bedroom units both posted annual rent declines of 3.5% in June. Studios and three-bedroom units recorded smaller decreases of 0.4%. Over a three-year period, studios led rent growth with a 19.3% increase, while three-bedroom purpose-built apartments rose 4.4% year-over-year to an average of $2,755 – the strongest performing segment last month.
