Montreal’s housing vacancy rate reached 2.7% in 2020, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). It was 1.5% the previous year.
Across Quebec, the housing vacancy rate fell from 1.8% to 2.5% in one year.
This increase in vacant rents is explained in particular by the decrease in international migration and the cancellation of university courses in person because of the pandemic, according to the results of the Rental Housing Survey (ELL) released Thursday.
The reintegration into the long-term rental market of short-term rental housing to tourists is also responsible for this situation, CMHC said in a press release.
Recently, the Corporation of Real Estate Owners of Quebec (CORPIQ) evoked among its Montreal members a vacancy rate of 6%, up 5% in a few months because of the health crisis.
In the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Quebec, there is a modest increase in the vacancy rate, which went from 2.4% to 2.7%. Same constant in Ottawa-Gatineau (1.5% to 1.6%).
Elsewhere in Quebec, however, housing vacancy rates fell in some CMAs. This is the case of Saguenay where the rate fell from 3.7% to 2.8%, of Sherbrooke (2.3% to 1.3%) and of Trois-Rivières (2.3% to 1.3%). %).
Across Canada, the home vacancy rate climbed from 2% in 2019 to 3.2% last year.
“The vacancy rate for apartments built for rent in Canada’s CMAs increased in 2020,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC chief economist.
“The economic impact of the pandemic has resulted in a sharp drop in demand for rental housing,” he added.
“The decline in international immigration, the decline in the number of student tenants and the deterioration of employment conditions have all contributed to the slowdown in the influx of new tenants,” said Dugan. Although vacancy rates have increased in many centers, we continue to see the need to increase the supply of rental housing to ensure access to affordable housing. ”
The Regroupement des committees housing et associations de tenants du Québec (RCLALQ) is worried that Quebec is “still below the 3% break-even point, which makes finding housing difficult”. For large dwellings, the situation is even more complicated.
“It will always be as difficult for large households to find adequate housing, and discrimination will continue to hit hard on families looking for affordable housing,” said Maxime Roy-Allard, spokesperson for RCLALQ. .
“Renter households are still disadvantaged and likely to suffer repossessions and unjustified rent increases, under the threat of losing their housing,” said Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Popular Action Front in Redevelopment urban (FRAPRU). “Even if there is more housing available, it does not put more money in their pockets,” she continued.
Average rent goes up
Meanwhile, the average rent for two-bedroom units rose 3.6% in all CMAs across the country, reaching $ 1,165. In Quebec, we are talking about an average growth of 6%.
In Montreal, the average rent for two bedrooms has dropped from $ 855 to $ 903. Increases were also noted in Saguenay ($ 649 to $ 664), Ottawa-Gatineau ($ 874 to $ 950), Quebec City ($ 862 to $ 899) and Sherbrooke ($ 658 to $ 671). On the other hand, it decreased in Trois-Rivières ($ 625 to $ 621).
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