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Follow any Kelowna online forum and you’ll see the same topic posted again and again: “Does anyone know where to find an apartment for rent?” According to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report, the vacancy rate in 2020 fell to 2.1% from 2.7% in 2019. And with many university and post-secondary students returning to Kelowna this September after a year of not being present for in-person classes, experts predict rental market inventory will hit record lows in 2021.
PadMapper, a major website dedicated to rentals across North America, released its monthly Canadian Rent Report for May 2021 which placed the city as the 7th most expensive rental market in the country, calculating the average monthly rental price to be $1,480 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,780 for a two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna. Another popular site, Zumper, calculates those numbers even higher, reporting the average one-bedroom cost at $1525 and the average two-bedroom at $1939, reflecting an increase of 8% and 11% over last year, respectively.
This high demand for rental properties has developers from across Canada looking to Kelowna as a prime area for real estate projects, including Orchard Park Properties which will soon be launching Water Street by the Park, a three tower development which will bring 156 new condos in the release of its first 24 storey tower this summer, followed by a second tower of 42 stories and third tower of 28 stories.
Chad MacTavish, Sales Director for ACE Project Marketing, which is overseeing the development, commented, “We have a huge amount of interest from investors in Kelowna and from across Canada that are seeing the incredible rental potential of these units. Our registration levels, particularly for one bedroom, one bedroom and den, and two bedroom units are higher than we have ever seen on any project, because the return on investment on these properties is amazing. We have already had inquiries about rentals on a building that isn’t estimated to start construction until late 2021/early 2022, so the demand is really there.”
Developer Anthony Beyrouti said, “When we looked at Water Street by the Park, we knew the pricing would be important for investors, so they can see a good return on rentals, which is why we put our starting prices in the mid-$300s. These won’t be ‘average’ rentals because of the high-end building amenities, the downtown Kelowna location and the lake views. These will be premium rental units, so owner/investors will see a really great return.”
Water Street by the Park will be launching sales in early Summer 2021 and will be taking appointments to tour its Presentation Centre in the coming days. For more information visit www.waterstbythepark.com.
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