Renters in Saskatoon are paying much less for rent compared to other cities across Canada.
That is according to July’s study released by PadMapper, a property retail website. They release these stats monthly.
Data analyst for PadMapper Crystal Chen says the Canadian National Renters Report stated renters in the Bridge City aren’t following the trends of the bigger cities in Canada where rent is higher.
“The pandemic seems to have halted any major demand in fluctuations, people seem to be intent on not moving right now,” said Chen.
She says the data is based on active listings to reflect the open market in each city.
Chen says Regina renters are in the same situation.
She says in other cities, because of the pandemic the shift in demand has gone to smaller areas with more space, meaning the average price has dropped drastically. That doesn’t seem to be the case here in Saskatchewan as prices look to remain the same.
Saskatchewan Landlord Association executive officer Cameron Choquette says it comes to down to supply and demand.
“There’s an increase in supply available on the market,” Choquette said. “Landlords are looking to attract tenants to their units especially now that we’ve entered the latter half of summer and head into fall.”
He says larger centres such as Ottawa have a one per cent vacancy rate, therefore landlords can up their prices to keep vacancy low.
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He says right now the Bridge City has a vacancy rate of roughly eight per cent.
Saskatchewan and Region Home Builders Association CEO Chris Guérette says that a ranking of 23rd could also mean Saskatoon has a healthy housing market.
“There is a healthy amount of choice, amenities, price points, I think we have that here,” Guérette said. “There’s options.”
Chen says Saskatoon is one of a few cities on a downward trend with the average price of a one-bedroom unit at $890 and a two-bedroom at $1,040. It ranks 23rd of 24 major markets in the country. Only St. John, N.L., has lower average median rent cost.
Regina ranks 22nd, with a $10 and $20 increase respectively when looking at the same renting units.
Property owner Curtis Arnold, who runs seven properties (six in Saskatoon), says people aren’t willing to move around at this time — especially with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“(My friends who have properties,) a lot of them have long term tenants,” Arnold said. “People haven’t been coming and going; it’s been very consistent with us.”
Currently all units he has in the city are being rented.
Chen adds in other cities many people are moving from the large cities for more space and cheaper options in smaller cities due to the pandemic.
Chen says the markets should remain flat in Saskatchewan for the foreseeable future.
She says in other markets such as Toronto, a lot of people are moving to the cheaper, smaller centres.
“These markets are more affordable,” said Chen. “It’s great that it isn’t seeing any huge spikes. It’s great no one is getting priced out of their apartments.”
Unless anything changes with the pandemic, that pattern is predicted to maintain for the near future.
More information on these numbers can be viewed on the PadMapper website.
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