According to this article, the CMCH found a slight increase on rental vacancy. It’s just 0.1% increase from last year, not a lot really. Montreal doesn’t appear in the list of cities with high vacancy rates. Also, the rental prices for 2 bedroom apartments have also increased accordingly. Here are the details:

The average rental apartment vacancy rate in Canada’s 35 major centres increased slightly to 2.7 per cent in April 2009, from 2.6 per cent in April 2008, according to the spring Rental Market Survey(2) released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“Completions of condominiums, which continue to attract renter households looking to move into homeownership are decreasing demand for rental housing. Also, some of the completed condos compete with rental units if they were purchased by investors who then rent them out. These two factors have put upward pressure on the vacancy rate,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “However, this has been balanced by higher levels of demand for rental housing.”

Major centres with the lowest vacancy rates
Québec City 0.6 %, Regina 0.7 %, Winnipeg 0.9 %, Saguenay 1.1 %, Trois-Rivières 1.1 %.

Major centres with the highest vacancy rates
Windsor 15.5 %, St. Catharines-Niagara 5.3 %, and Abbotsford 4.8%.

Average Monthly Rentals
“The highest average monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments in new and existing structures were in Vancouver ($1,154), Calgary ($1,106), Toronto ($1,093), Edmonton ($1,059), and Victoria ($1,043). Of all the major centres, these five were the only ones with average rents at or above $1,000. The lowest average monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments in new and existing structures were in Saguenay ($494), and Trois-Rivières ($512).

Overall, the average rent for two-bedroom apartments in existing structures across Canada’s 35 major centres increased 2.9 per cent between April 2008 and April 2009.”

Source: CHMC via Newswire