Estevan rental units continue to outpace the rest of Saskatchewan in terms of price.
The rental apartment vacancy rate across Saskatchewan's urban centres saw an increase from 2013 to 2014, but while more units are available, Estevan saw an increase in average rental prices and remains the most expensive city to rent property in the province.
According to the spring rental market survey, released June 11 by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Estevan saw its vacancy rates for rental units rise from a near statistical impossibility of 0.0 per cent in April 2013 to a 5.5 per cent vacancy rate in April 2014.
Estevan continued to reign as the city with the highest monthly rent, with an average two-bedroom apartment costing tenants $1,275 per month, a 10.3 per cent increase from the average a year previous. That's also 8.1 per cent higher than the next closest city, Lloydminster, which has an average rent of $1,171 per month. Swift Current remained the lowest average two-bedroom rent at $781 per month in April 2014.
Regina and Saskatoon recorded average rents at $1,053 and $1,075, respectively. Weyburn's average rental price was listed as $942 per month, making it 35 per cent more expensive to rent in Estevan than its Highway 39 neighbour. The province-wide average rent was $1,036.
Estevan saw increases in each category of rental unit, with bachelor units rising from $722 to $749, one-bedroom apartments up from $965 to $1,046 ($158 more than second-place Regina), while three-or-more-bedroom units dropped in price from $1,283 last April to $1,240 this year, just one dollar more than Regina's second-place average for the same-sized unit.
The report noted "the addition of newly constructed rental apartments and work camps alleviated some of the rental pressures, which were previously being experienced in this centre."
Despite the influx of rental units, the prices remain high as newly built rental properties fetch an even higher price.
Concerning Estevan and Lloydminster, the report said, "The increase in oil and gas production contributed to the lowest rental vacancies in the province last year, fuelling the demand for additional rental housing in these centres. Builders in Estevan and Lloydminster have responded with the addition of new rental units to the universe, which garner higher than average rent levels."
Along with high prices, Estevan was found to have the fewest rental options available in a city of at least 10,000 people, with the report noting there are 545 private apartment units in the city. That's fewer than Weyburn, 623; Yorkton, 842; and Swift Current, 834.
The province as a whole saw the apartment vacancy rate increase slightly from 3.0 per cent last April to 3.3 per cent in the same month this year.
Goodson Mwale, CMHC senior market analyst for Saskatchewan, attributed the vacancy rate increase to the slower economic pace of the last year.
"A slower pace of job creation and weaker wage gains contributed to a slowdown in net migration, which led to a moderation in rental demand and a higher vacancy rate. An increase in the supply of purpose-built rental apartments through new construction also contributed to higher vacancies," said Mwale.
The average two-bedroom rent increased by 4.3 per cent in Saskatchewan, which is based on a sample by the CMHC that only looked at units existing in both the April 2013 and April 2014 surveys and doesn't include newly built units.
North Battleford recorded the highest vacancy rate in the province at 7.8 per cent in April 2014, while Lloydminster was crowned as having the province's lowest rate at just 1.8 per cent availability. Regina reported a vacancy rate of 2.5 per cent and Saskatoon recorded 3.0 per cent this past April.
