Population growth depresses Alberta, B.C. rental vacancies; building permits fall
TORONTO (CP) - A booming western economy that attracted job seekers from the rest of Canada made finding an apartment to rent close to impossible in Alberta and British Columbia in April, the federal housing agency reported Wednesday.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said the lowest rental vacancy rate was in Alberta, where just under one in 100 units was available, while in British Columbia the figure was barely above one.
"The economic expansion experienced in western provinces is attracting workers from central and Atlantic Canada," CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said in a release.
"Upon their arrival, many of these people settle in rental housing, which has put downward pressure on vacancy rates in major centres in Alberta and British Columbia."
The report finds the economy supportive of strong demand for rental housing, thanks to strong employment growth, income gains and high immigration levels.
Nationally, the rental vacancy rate rate was 2.8 per cent in April in the 35 major centres that CMHC uses for its measurements.
While that's nominally higher than the 2.6 per cent in October, the agency warned against drawing any conclusions about trends on the grounds that seasonal factors might make comparisons meaningless.
The worst place in Canada to have been apartment hunting was in Calgary, where the vacancy rate was 0.5 per cent - or 1-in-200 units available, CMHC found.
The situation was barely better in B.C. centres such as Victoria, Kelowna and Abbotsford, B.C., due to population growth and high home ownership costs, the agency said.
On the other hand, it was a renter's market in Windsor, Ont., with a nationally high vacancy rate of 11.6 per cent.
When it comes to rent, the highest in the country was to be found in the northern Alberta community of Wood Buffalo, where two-bedroom units go for an average $1,681 a month.
"Strong economic growth due to activity in the oilsands in Wood Buffalo has attracted workers from other parts of the country and has driven up demand for rental housing," Dugan explained.
Among major urban centres, Toronto led the way with average two bedrooms renting for $1,073 a month, with Vancouver and Calgary not far behind.
In contrast, a two-bedroom unit in Quebec's Trois-Rivieres and Saguenay could be found for under $500 on average.
This is the first time CMHC has released rental market information in the spring. The agency plans now to release the data twice yearly - in June and December - instead of just at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that only Nova Scotia saw an increase in building permit values in April, bucking an otherwise cross-country slump of 8.4 per cent from March, more than the consensus forecast of a three per cent drop.
Alberta and Ontario saw the largest declines.
Construction intentions fell in both the residential and non-residential sectors, with contractors taking out permits worth $5.6 billion.
While the decline in the residential sector was modest, non-residential permit values fell 18.9 per cent to just under $2 billion.
It was the second time in 12 months the total value has dipped below the $2-billion mark, with all three components, industrial, commercial and institutional, losing ground.
It was also the second biggest dollar decline since 1989.
"While the permits data is volatile, the underlying trends fall broadly in line with our view that the economy continues to grow at a decent pace in the second quarter," according to an RBC Economics Daily analysis.
"The data will have little influence on monetary policy and will not throw up any roadblock for the Bank of Canada to raise the overnight rate in July."
© The Canadian Press, 2007
