The rental housing vacancy rate remained stable in Montreal and across Canada in 2021, according to the Rental market report, released Friday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Rents are up 4% in the Montreal area, one of the strongest variations in the country.
Posted at 10:33 a.m.
The national vacancy rate is at 3.1%. Montreal is at 3%; Quebec, 2.5% and Gatineau, 1.1%.
“The stability of the vacancy rate in Montreal has played a key role in the evolution of the national vacancy rate, writes the federal agency in a press release, because this market represents approximately 30% of the primary rental market in the country. The flat vacancy rate in Montreal offset higher vacancy rates in other markets, particularly Toronto. »
“The vacancy rate has stabilized, continues the CMHC, because the demand for rental housing has kept pace with the growth of supply in 2021, after having generally been much lower than supply in 2020.
In fact, more than 35,000 rental units were built in Quebec last year, an absolute record, according to the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec.
If the increase in rents slowed in Canada, it was the opposite in the Montreal area which posted one of the strongest annual increases in rent at 4%.
Nevertheless, the Montreal market remains one of the most affordable in the country. At an average monthly rent of $932, “Montreal continued to post one of the lowest rents in Canada,” says CMHC.