The cost of rents is slowing but continues to grow at more than twice the level of our 2.5% inflation rate, according to the new National Rent Report released by Rentals.ca.
Average monthly rents are now $2,201 with increases registering in Vancouver and Toronto.
While the growth in rental costs is at its slowest for 31 months, the trend is still healthy for investors and landlords.
Combined with falling interest rates and a slow real estate market, the opportunity to either begin a property investment portfolio or expand an existing one may be beckoning.
The steepest increase was registered in Edmonton, where rents went up 14.3% year-on-year to $1,579. Ottawa was second on the list, seeing a rent hike of 4.1% to give tenants an average cost of $2,218.
A boom real estate market currently, Calgary’s rents grew 3.7% to $2,111.
Major rent centres, Vancouver and Toronto, experienced only modest rent increases for July, but they continued to suffer downward trends.
Toronto rents were 0.2% higher in July compared with June. However, rents have fallen 4.6% compared with 12 months ago. The average rent in the city is $2,719.
The highest average of $3,101 can be found in Vancouver.
Even this heady number is 7.2% down on 12 months ago. For July, rents were 1.9% higher in Vancouver compared with June.