Calgary's rental vacancy rate has skyrocketed, while prices have barely changed, according to a report released Monday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Calgary's rental vacancy rate for apartment buildings hit 5.3 per cent in October 2015, up from 1.4 the same month last year, the agency said.
The national average for urban centres is 3.3 per cent.
“The rise in the national vacancy rate was due to lower net migration in regions most affected by low oil prices as well as an increase in the supply of purpose-built rental apartment units,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC said in a press release.
Rental condos in the Calgary area also jumped, from a 1.1 per cent vacancy rate to 4.9 per cent, the CMHC reported.
Calgary's average monthly rental rate for a condo is $1,522, making it the third most expensive condo rental market in Canada behind Toronto ($1,754) and Vancouver ($1,543), according to the CMHC. It's only $10 more than last year's statistic despite the change in vacancy rates.
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