Apartment rents in Kelowna are going crazy

| October 14, 2021 in Real Estate

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It's never been more expensive to rent an apartment in Kelowna.

In fact, monthly rents are accelerating so quickly that Kelowna has moved up from being the fifth priciest in the country to the third most expensive.

That's right.

In September, the median rent on a typical two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna was a record-high $2,180, up 5% from August and a whopping 25% loftier than it was a year ago.

The only two cities in Canada with more expensive rents for a two-bedroom are Vancouver at $2,900 and Toronto at $2,250.

Rent for a typical one-bedroom is also at an all-time high of $1,610, up 1% from August and 7% more than September 2020.

Only three cities have more excessive rents on one-beds -- Vancouver with $2,130, Toronto at $1,800 and Barrie with $1,700.

Crystal Chen is the marketing manager at Zumper (formerly PadMapper), the online tool that creates the monthly Canadian National Rent Report.

These figures come from Zumper (formerly PadMapper), the platform that lists apartments for rent and also compiles the monthly Canadian National Rent Report by analyzing hundreds of thousands of apartment-for-rent listings.

Many factors are at work to drive Kelowna rents into the stratosphere.

Not a lot of apartments are for rent in Kelowna any given month, which means supply is squeezed, yet demand is high, a scenario that pushes prices upwards.

The city is a desirable place to live, work, play and invest, so lots of people are moving to and around Kelowna in search of an ideal place they can afford.

Despite the pandemic, Kelowna's economy is vibrant and is attracting entrepreneurs, professionals and high-tech workers who can afford high housing prices.

The waves of university and college students from out of town also put demand on rentals and propel prices.

Plus, rents generally mirror the trends in the home buying market.

In August, the benchmark selling prices of a typical condominium in Kelowna was a record-high $478,300, a 23% hike over last year.

Kelowna is now the third most expensive city in the country to rent a two-bedroom apartment and the fourth priciest for a one-bedroom.

These kinds of prices and rents and increasing inflation spotlights Kelowna's unaffordability.

Many average workers have trouble paying the city's costly apartment rents, let alone be able to come up with a down payment and support the mortgage on a condo.

That means in order to secure a place some young workers need help from the bank of mom and dad, work two jobs or have to take in a roommate.

https://www.zumper.com/blog/rental-price-data-canada/

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