Report shows Halifax's 2022 rental vacancy rate second lowest in Canada
A new report shows the rental market in Nova Scotia has been hit hard with increased demand and short supply.
"We’ve seen that younger people are staying in rentals longer and continue to boost rental demand," says Kelvin Ndoro from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
On Thursday, the CMHC released its yearly report, highlighting Halifax’s rental vacancy rate sits at one per cent, or the second lowest in Canada.
The city's turnover rate is 11 per cent, which is also the second lowest nationwide.
The turnover unit rent hiked 28.9 per cent, while the rent increase to current tenants is up 4.5 per cent – that's the highest in Canada.
As a result, officials say in 2022 the average Halifax two bedroom unit was around $1,449.00, which increased 9.3 per cent.
According to officials, low vacancy rates are a sign construction lacking with population growth.
Between July 2021 and July of 2022, about 28,000 people moved to Nova Scotia.
"Halifax actually had negative interprovincial migration, which means we saw more people leaving to other parts of Nova Scotia then we’re coming here whereas the surrounding areas like East Hants Warden, Kings County, Cumberland for example, Truro has seen an increase in interprovincial migration,” Ndoro says.
Kevin Russell from the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia said he wasn't shocked by the data.
"When the government introduced rent control in Nova Scotia in 2020 we advised government and anyone that would listen that rent control would result in higher rents than pre-rent control,” Russell says.
According to Russell, Nova Scotia’s two per cent cap on rental increases is forcing some property owners to sell.
“That market is going back into single-family home ownership. We’ve done surveys with our members that show that there’s 12,000 units at risk of being sold,” says Russell.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.