REGINA — While below average in price, rent in Saskatchewan is following the national trend in increases.
Average asking rents in Canada hit a record high of $2,042 in June, surpassing the previous record set in November 2022 ($2,024) by 0.9 per cent.
A report by Rentals.ca reveals a 1.4 per cent increase in rents from May represented the fastest month-over-month increase so far this year, causing the annual rate of rent inflation to accelerate to 7.5 per cent from the 6.5 per cent annual rate recorded in May. Over the past two years, average asking rents in Canada have increased by 20 per cent, or by an average of $341.
The average price for a one-bedroom unit in Saskatoon is $1,110, up 14.2 per cent year over year. A two-bedroom unit averages $1,245, up 9.6 per cent year over year.
Regina is slightly cheaper as far as one-bedroom units go, with an average of $1,096, up 8.1 per cent. But two-bedroom units are higher, at $1,321, up 13.4 per cent.
Out of the 35 communities rated, Saskatoon and Regina are 33 and 34 respectively.
The lowest is Grande Prairie, Alta. A one-bedroom unit there averages $1,026 and a two-bedroom averages $1,166.
Across the country, highest rates are in Vancouver, B.C., with one-bedroom units renting at an average of $2,945, and two-bedroom units at $3, 863.
"What the country is experiencing right now is a perfect storm of conditions," said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, a real estate research firm.
"It's interesting that rents continue to grow this fast despite rental apartment completions in Canada currently running at multi-decade highs. It really shows that the housing industry isn't producing enough rental supply to satisfy this record level of rental demand."
Hildebrand said demand is being driven by Canada's rapid population growth, much of which is coming from non-permanent residents such as foreign students who rent, along with near record-low unemployment, rising incomes and "the worst home ownership affordability in over a generation for first-time buyers."
High interest rates are a "key ingredient" to the lack of housing affordability, said Hildebrand. He predicted the Bank of Canada's latest rate hike earlier this week would worsen existing barriers to entry for renters looking to buy a home.
"It'll reduce supply by keeping renters in their units for longer, it'll convert more would-be first-time buyers into longer term renters," he said.
"Just as meaningfully, it'll slow down the supply pipeline of new apartment projects because higher interest rates, obviously, raise the costs of developing."
— With files from The Canadian Press
