The fastest growing in Canada: Kelowna apartment rents

Apartment rents in Kelowna are making up for lost time.

After sliding for five consecutive months earlier this year, rents have been on the rise for the past three months.

In fact, Kelowna had the biggest rent jump in Canada in September for one-bedroom apartments with the monthly median spiking to $1,860, a 6.3% jolt from $1,750 in August, according to Zumper, the online platform that lists apartments for rent and also compiles the monthly Canadian Rent Report.

It also makes Kelowna the 10th most expensive city in the country to rent a one-bed behind Vancouver, Toronto, Burnaby, Victoria, Kitchener, Ottawa and Oshawa, Halifax and Calgary.

It wasn't all that long ago that Kelowna was the 3rd most expensive city in Canada to rent a one-bed.

But then, that aforementioned five month decline in rents happened and Kelowna tumbled to No. 14 on the priciest list.

The 6.3% escalation from August to September beats out the next closest growth cities -- 6.1% in each Oshawa and Barrie.

While Kelowna saw 6.3% expansion in one-bed rents from August to September, the $1,860 in September is actually 2.1% less than it was in September 2022.

Kelowna's one-bed rent peaked at $1,980 a month in January 2023.

When it comes to median monthly rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna sits as 5th most expensive with $2,700, following Vancouver, Toronto, Burnaby and Victoria.

The $2,700 in September is a new, record-high and is up 1.5% from August's $2,660 and a heafy 12.5% lurch from the same month last year.

Decreases in rents earlier this year in Kelowna were attributed to a surge in apartment building construction, which increased the inventory of apartments for rent and forced landlords to soften rents a bit to attract tenants.

However, summer started to see the rental market strengthen, especially with UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College students putting pressure on apartment inventory for September school start.

Much like Kelowna's for-purchase market for single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums, the city's apartment rental market is considered to be unaffordable for many.

That's why some people have to draw the line and not move to Kelowna because the cost of living is too high, other adults continue to live with their parents because they can't afford a place of their own, others yet have roommates when they don't particularly want them or you stay in an inadequate rental because you can't afford anything bigger or better.

As mentioned previously, the top four most expensive cities in Canada to rent are Vancouver (one-bed: $2,800 and two-bed: $3,960), Toronto ($2,540 and $3,350), Burnaby ($2,530 and $3,200) and Victoria ($2,050 and $2,800).

The cheapest rents in the country are in Saskatoon ($1,080 and $1,240), Regina ($1,150 and $1,350), Edmonton ($1,180 and $1,490) and Winnipeg ($1,220 and $1,600).

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

And the top 10 list here: