A few days ago, Ottawa realtor Roch St. Georges sent this my way, courtesy of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It’s the CMHC’s rental market report for 2012. The Ottawa Business Journal also had a nice little piece about it this morning that sums it up. Bottom line – the vacancy rate is up slightly. There’s a few factors at play here, like condos being snapped up by landlords, low interest rates, etc…but the vacancy rate is expected to drop next year.
Here’s a few choice bits from the report…
- Ottawa’s residential vacancy rate edged in at 2.5 per cent for the year, up from 1.4 per cent a year earlier.
- The average cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment also increased by two per cent. That’s lower, however, than the 2.3 per cent increase that took place in 2011.
- An increase in the size of the rental inventory has played a role in the vacancy rate increase, as many of the new condominium units sprouting up across the city are being purchased by investors and rented out.
- Nationally, Canada’s overall apartment vacancy rate has risen over the past year, with an increased supply of rental units and a slowdown in household formation by Canadians being cited among the reasons.
Read the article at the OBJ here: http://www.obj.ca/Real%20Estate/Residential/2012-12-13/article-3139634/Rental-vacancy-rate-climbs-to-25-CMHC/1
Read the CHMC report here: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64423/64423_2012_A01.pdf
