Vancouver rents dip for second year but city remains Canada’s most expensive: report

Average rents in Vancouver dipped in December, but the city remains the most expensive major centre in the country, according to new data released this week.

The average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the city was $2,512 in December– down seven per cent compared with the same time last year — the report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation says.

For a two-bedroom unit, the average price was $3,430 — a drop of 6.3 per cent compared to December 2024.

Overall, taking into account all property types, the average was $2,882 — down six per cent year-over-year.

Giacomo Ladas of Rentals.ca says the decline tells both a seasonal and annual story.

“Even though Vancouver is at the top of the list and is probably going to be for the foreseeable future, rents are going down. This is the second straight year that that’s happened. So it’s going to be interesting to see and monitor that in 2025,” said Ladas.

The average rent across Canada for all property types was $2,109 — a 17-month low, down 3.2 per cent year-over-year.

“The decline in rents [Canada-wide] last year followed growth of 8.6 per cent in 2023 and 12.1 per cent in 2022, representing the first time that rents experienced an annual decrease since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when rents fell 5.4 per cent,” the report said.

“Overall, rents increased by a total of 16.8 per cent over the past five years, which equates to an average of 3.15 per cent per year.”

Ladas says increased supply is one reason for lower rents, but not the whole story.

“Demand has really weakened in these higher-priced regions, and that has slowed rent growth. And it makes sense. There’s been some affordability constraints with Canadians, especially in these cities like Vancouver and Toronto, where rents are extremely high.”

He says generally low turnover rates have forced landlords to finally lower asking prices.

“When you’re not moving out, no new supply comes to the market, and that’s how we kind of get into this affordability crisis. We seen where landlords and developers can’t ask for higher rents because people aren’t coming. And that’s happening in Toronto as well. And we kind of think this is going to continue for a
bit.”

Ladas says the current ‘off season’ for moving is a good time to start looking for a new place, but adds that Rentals.ca expects the downward trend to continue throughout 2025 if you’re willing to wait.

The report says outside of the country’s biggest cities, North Vancouver and Coquitlam had some of the country’s highest rents, with $3,083 and $2,944, respectively.

—With files from Cecilia Hua