Three of the top four most expensive cities in Canada are located in B.C., according to a website that tracks rent prices.
On Tuesday, Zumper.com released its monthly Canadian rent report, which listed Vancouver as having the nation’s highest one-bedroom rental price at $2,220 a month.
Toronto was second at $1,840, with B.C. cities Victoria in third at $1,750 and Kelowna fourth at $1,710.
Barrie, Ont., was fifth at $1,610.
While the report isn’t news to anyone living in Vancouver, Victoria or Kelowna, what was new was the spike from January in the Central Okanagan.
According to Zumper, Kelowna saw an increase of 4.9 per cent last month. Interestingly, though, Victoria saw a decrease of 4.9 per cent.
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“These changes bring the rents of these two markets within $40 of each other, which suggests that Kelowna may overtake Victoria as third in the upcoming months,” said Zumper.
The website also said one-bedroom rents in Kelowna are up 17.9 per cent from last year at this time, while two-bedroom pricing increased to $2,050. That’s up 0.5 per cent from January and 15.2 per cent from last year.
In Vancouver, one-bedroom pricing increased 13.4 per cent year over year to $2,200, while two-bedrooms are now at $3,020, up 14.8 per cent from one year ago.
“Continuing the trend seen in the last report, the majority of double-digit year-over-year rent price growth rates were located in the top-10 markets again, continuing to indicate that demand is returning to the more expensive cities,” said Zumper.
At the bottom of the 23-city list were Regina ($900 a month for a one-bedroom; $1,100 for a two-bedroom) and St. John’s ($890; $950).
Zumper also tracks U.S. rental pricing, and listed New York as No. 1 at $3,260 a month for a one-bedroom unit. San Francisco was second at $2,850 with Boston third at $2,720.
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