Kelowna the 4th most expensive city in Canada to rent an apartment

With apartment rents skyrocketing 14% this year, Kelowna has firmly secured its place as the 4th most expensive rental market in the country.

"The (monthly) prices of one-and-two-bedrooms (in 2021) settled at medians of $1,720 and $2,050, respectively," said Crystal Chen, marketing manager at Zumper (formerly PadMapper) where apartments for rent are listed and the monthly Canadian National Rent Report is generated.

The end-of-the-year report in December is closely watched because it provides an annual summary and shows just how pricey Kelowna real estate has become.

Over the past year, Kelowna has also bounced around the rankings, some months as 3rd most expensive, other months 5th, before landing in 4th at year-end.

The typical one-bedroom rent of $1,720 is 13.9% higher than last year, which means rent in December 2020 was $1,510.

That 13.9% push makes Kelowna the biggest rent jumper in Canada, ahead of the 13.3% in Barrie, where one-bedroom rent is now $1,700 a month.

There are only three other cities in the country where renting a one-bedroom is heftier -- Vancouver at $2,100 a month, Toronto with $1,850 and Victoria at $1,760.

See the full report at https://www.zumper.com/blog/rental-price-date-canada

When it comes to renting a two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna, the typical monthly rent is $2,050, a whopping 14.5% more than the $1,790 it was last year at this time.

Even so, there were four other cities that racked up bigger hikes -- Vancouver at 14.9% for $3,080, Victoria with 14.9% at $2,310, Oshawa at 15% and $1,840 and Abbotsford at 19.6% for $1,770.

The three cities in Canada ahead of Kelowna on the most expensive two-bedroom list are the aforementioned Vancouver at No. 1 and Victoria at No. 3 and Toronto in second place with $2,330.

Kelowna rents have continued to soar despite the continued pandemic, the summer's searing heat, wildfires and flooding and mudslides cutting off highway routes to Vancouver and causing supply-chain havoc.

That's because Kelowna continues to be a desirable place to live, work, play and invest.

It also has a robust homes sales market and rentals tend to mirror that.

For example, the benchmark selling price of a condominium in Kelowna is $495,400, up 28.5% in a year.

While such price and rent increases point toward a healthy economy it also spotlights that Kelowna has supply shortage of homes for sale and apartments for rent.

Such conditions price some out of the market while others have to borrow from parents, work two jobs or take in a roommate in order to afford a place.

By the way, the most affordable cities to rent an apartment are St. John's at $860 a month for a one-bedroom and $940 for a two-bed and Regina at $890 and $1,100, respectively.

See the full report at https://www.zumper.com/blog/rental-price-data-canada.