About one-third of Canadian households rent, as home ownership is viewed by many as a milestone and considered a path to setting oneself up financially for retirement. But breaking into the housing market remains elusive for many Canadians. Anne Gaviola has more on whether renters can set themselves up for financial success in the long run – Apr 28, 2024shows the average asking rent for all property types in May rose above $2,200 for the first time. That’s up 9.
“Even if don’t grow as quickly, they’re still going to stay high,” says Randall Bartlett, senior director of Canadian economics at Desjardins.The stabilization in rents that experts are expecting is already underway in some markets. Montreal holds firmly in the middle of the pack, with prices for one- and two-bed apartments rising in single digits annually but still remaining hundreds of dollars cheaper than Toronto and Vancouver levels.
Relatively affordable Alberta remains the most popular destination for relocating Canadians, the Angus Reid survey showed. But that demand is also what’s driving rents to soar in markets like Edmonton, Bartlett says, which saw 16.4 per cent growth in average rents for one-bed units in May. She tells Global News that there’s no shortage of barriers to getting shovels in the ground lately. High borrowing costs tend to discourage new projects in the same way they might hold back a homeowner from undertaking a renovation, and Canada is facing a noted labour shortage in the construction industry on top of rising costs for materials globally.Major elections are set for 4 G7 countries.