Apartment rents tumble in Kelowna

For years, Kelowna has consistently been the 3rd or 4th most expensive city in Canada to rent an apartment.

But, all of a sudden, last month, Kelowna's ranking nosedived to 8th.

The median monthly rent for a typical one-bedroom apartment in the city in April was $1,800, a full $100 plummet from the $1,900 it was at in March, according to the latest numbers from Zumper, the online platform that lists apartments for rent and compiles the monthly Canadian Rent Report.

In January, one-bedroom rents hit their peak of $1,980 and the prediction was that Kelowna would soon break the $2,000-a-month ceiling.

But a lot has happened in the last four month.

The economy has softened and consumer confidence has been knocked by high inflation and the higher cost of living.

What that means is some potential renters are refusing to pay higher rents.

If landlords want to fill their units, they might have to lower rents to attract renters.

While rents are down in Kelowna, they are still expensive.

Being the 8th priciest rental city in the country means many people are still priced out of the market.

They may have to continue to live with their parents as a result, or reluctantly have a roommate or roommates to help cover the rent or rather than move to Kelowna for a job they stick with cheaper options in other cities.

Traditionally, as the 4th most expensive rental market in Canada, Kelowna regularly ranked behind Vancouver (one-bed rent in March: $2,600), Toronto ($2,400) and Victoria ($2,000).

But last month, Burnaby ($2,350), Kitchener ($1,880), Barrie ($1,830) and Halifax ($1,830) burst onto the scene with rent increases (or decreases smaller than Kelowna's) to take 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th places.

In fact, Kelowna shares 8th place with Hamilton, where the median monthly rent for a one-bed is also $1,800.

Zumper bases its rankings of 23 cities on one-bedroom rents.

However, it does also provide median monthly rents for two-bedroom apartments, which have different rankings.

For instance, the median monthly rent for a two-bed in Kelowna was $2,380 in April, which is up $50 from $2,330 in March, but still below the record-high of $2,430 in August.

Kelowna's $2,380 actually puts the city in 6th place on the two-bed list behind Vancouver at $3,800, toronto with $3,090, Burnaby at $3,000, Victoria with $2,500 and Halifax at $2,390.

What that means is Kelowna's rental market is in flux and rents could go up or down any given month without much rhyme or reason.

The cheapest cities in Canada to rent an apartment are Regina ($1,070 and $1,300), Edmonton ($1,090 and $1,380), Saskatoon ($1,140 and $1,300) and Quebec City ($1,170 and $1,490).

Full report at: www.zumper.com/blog/rental-price-data-canada