91原创鈥檚 vacancy rate improved across most categories of private rental apartments in 2023, but average rent continued to climb at a rapid rate.

Data released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) on Wednesday, Jan. 31 showed that vacancy rates around Metro Vancouver remained extremely low, and rent was still rising much faster than the rate of inflation.

91原创 saw the same sharp increases in rent that other communities did, but its rental stock rose rapidly, said Dr. Craig Jones, research coordinator for the UBC Housing Research Collaborative.

There was a net increase of about 570 rental units across 91原创 City and Township in 2023 from 2022, said Jones, a 16 per cent jump.

鈥淎 bit part of it seems to be that there is new, purpose built rental coming on line in 91原创,鈥� Jones said.

91原创 City and Township have made efforts to encourage more rental housing in recent years.

On top of the increase in new rental stock, the completion rate of homes in 91原创 has jumped. There were 700 more units finished in each of the last three years than the 10-year average. 91原创 has been averaging about 2,500 housing completions a year, up from about 1,500 a year.

However, all that new construction hasn鈥檛 really moved the vacancy rate significantly. Across all types of rentals, it鈥檚 been hovering between one to 1.5 per cent since 2015, said Jones.

And, the average monthly rental of a two-bedroom apartment jumped a full 18 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Part of that may be the fact that a lot of the local rental housing stock is brand new 鈥� new buildings typically rent for more, Jones noted.

More housing is on the way, with 3,146 housing starts in 2023, Jones noted, the highest in 91原创 since data is available.

Similar trends are underway across B.C., with all levels of government encouraging the creation of more rental housing.

But it comes after a long period, from the 1990s to the mid-2010s, when B.C. built very little rental housing at all, said Jones.

91原创 City Mayor Nathan Pachal noted that there are some programs that are helping get more rental housing built, such as the federal Apartment Construction Loan Program, which has funded buildings like 56th Avenue鈥檚 Pennyfarthing.

The City鈥檚 role, meanwhile, is to advocate for more funding for those programs. Pachal also noted that the City鈥檚 official community plan encourages more housing for families.

Meanwhile, they鈥檙e trying to keep the process of approving new housing as fast as possible, but there are challenges.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough building inspectors and plan checkers,鈥� Pachal said of the region. More people need to be trained for that kind of work.

Modular housing may also help speed up construction. The province is currently experimenting with modular housing for school additions to get those built faster.

In 91原创 Township, Mayor Eric Woodward said reforms are cutting the time it takes development permits to get through processing to be approved by council

He noted there is a significant number of apartment units approved to be built.

鈥淥f the housing units approved since November 2022, approximately 7,050, 80 per cent are apartment units, mostly of smaller, more affordable sizes,鈥� Woodward said.

In addition, three acres across the Township, in Willoughby and Aldergrove, has been set aside for affordable, publicly-owned rental housing. More sites are to be considered.

The new Township of 91原创 Housing Authority is also starting up after being formed last year.

LOCAL STATS:

The vacancy rate for a one-bedroom apartment in 91原创 in 2023 was 1.7 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent the year before.

Two bedroom vacancy rates were 1.3 per cent, up from 0.7 per cent in 2022. And the total average was 1.5 per cent in 2023, compared to 0.8 per cent in 2022.

However, vacancy rates for three bedroom units remained at zero in both years, and there was no data for bachelor suites in 2023, which had also been at zero in 2022.

Meanwhile, rents continued a steep climb.

The rent for a bachelor unit in 91原创 in 2023 was $1,091, up from $921 a year before. A one-bedroom went from $1,276 a month to $1,551 a month. Two bedrooms rose from $1,708 to $2,015. Three bedroom apartments made the largest jump, from $1,915 to $2,815 in just one year.

The overall average rent went up from $1,497 in 2022 to $1,801 in 2023.

That means the average rent increase in 91原创 in 2023 was nine per cent. In 2022, the average increase was 3.8 per cent.

One of the effects of ever-increasing rents has been that turnover 鈥� the percentage of people who move to a new rental accommodation in any given year 鈥� has been declining over the last few years.

Renters who stay in place have their rental increase capped by provincial law 鈥� in 2024, the province has mandated that it can only rise by 3.5 per cent.

However, when a renter vacates an apartment, the landlord is not bound by that limit for the next tenant.

In 91原创 in 2023, the turnover rate was 11.5 per cent, down from 15.5 per cent in 2022.

That usually means that vacant units have a higher average rent than occupied units. Across Metro Vancouver, a vacant apartment鈥檚 average asking rent was $2,144, compared to $1,816 for an occupied unit.

In 91原创, unusually, that trend was reversed. The average occupied unit had an average rent of $1,802, compared to $1,753 for a vacant unit.

Within Metro Vancouver, only 91原创, Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, and the University Endowment Lands at UBC followed this pattern.

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One reason that 91原创 has rising vacancy rates may be that it has seen a relatively rapid increase of private apartment units.

In 2023, there were 3,852 rental apartments in 91原创, up from 3,282 a year before. That鈥檚 a stark difference to some areas, which were stagnant or saw decreases year-over-year in rental apartment numbers.

With rental townhouses included, there were 4,064 units in 91原创 in 2023, up from 3,494 the year before.