Soaring Rent and Low Vacancy in Canada's Latest Market Report

The Missing Middle with Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its annual Rental Market Report last week. With the national vacancy rate hitting a historic low and rent prices on a relentless climb, renters across the nation are feeling the squeeze. In bustling urban centers like Toronto and Vancouver, the role of condominiums as makeshift rental units reveals a housing landscape in flux, with implications that touch everyone from anxious first-time homebuyers to investors looking to capitalize on the market.
In this 23-minute discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern discuss vacancy rates, rent averages and what the numbers really tell us.
Other reading:
Rental Market Report - January 2024 (cmhc-schl.gc.ca)
https://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mpr-2024-01-24.pdf
https://rentals.ca/
https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Whitzman-Human_Rights_Based_Supply_Report-EN_1.pdf

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern

Produced by Meredith Martin

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Capíttulos

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. What does a 1.5% vacancy rate tell us? (00:01:00)

3. Population growth is up (00:01:56)

4. Newcomers are more likely to rent (00:03:00)

5. 20% of rental stock are condos (00:03:30)

6. The benefits of purpose-built rentals (00:04:50)

7. Graphic of Canadian rent increases (00:06:40)

8. Cara's reminder what average rents mean (00:08:39)

9. What does it mean for a rental to be affordable? (00:10:07)

10. Affordability should be based on incomes (00:11:30)

11. Montreal has lower rents (00:13:30)

12. Move to Alberta? (00:15:45)

13. Is courting interprovincial immigration to Alberta smart? (00:18:45)

14. Secondary impact on housing market (00:20:19)

15. What's the fastest way to improve rent? (00:21:15)