Rental listing site RentCafe has released a report on the top Canadian cities renters are interested in. Halifax ranks sixth overall.
The rental listing aggregator uses data from its listings, such as page views and engagement metrics, as well as apartment availability, to determine the interest of renters in a given city. The report is quarterly, with this one being special in that none of Canada’s largest cities made the cut.
Halifax slipped two positions compared to the last report from RentCafe, but has remained within the top ten for over two years. The service claims availability has rose by 9 percent, but that page views on Halifax listings declined by 51 percent. It also says that the city has the country’s lowest vacancy rate at 2.4 percent, the highest in-place rent growth, and the strongest new lease rent growth.
RentCafe also tallied who took the most interest in rental units in Halifax. Other than people within Halifax, the most interest came from Toronto and Montreal. It also claims much interest came from folks in Bedford.
Thoughts on renter interest
The thing about measuring renter interest is that it isn’t necessarily a social good for it to be so high. It’s certainly beneficial for the market, but oftentimes, what’s good for the housing market doesn’t translate into what’s good for your average person.
More people looking at listings for apartments means that more people are ready to move out of their current apartment, or in some cases, have no choice but to move out. Whether it be to inflating rental prices, evictions or units in disrepair, there are likely several reasons why Halifax renters are those most likely to look at other Halifax rentals. If people were comfortable where they were, they wouldn’t be as likely to look for a new place to live.
Renter interest coincides well with Nova Scotia’s lack of renter protections. The provincial government refuses to do anything about the fixed-term lease loophole, which allows landlords to boot tenants after a set period of time and jack up the rent higher than the current 5 percent cap allows. Tenancy hearings are also notoriously difficult to get in adequate time to settle disputes between tenants and landlords. It doesn’t help that when a tenancy court sides with the tenant, there is nothing guaranteeing that the landlord will follow the courts direction (particularly when it comes to disrepair).
Looking back at the stats provided by RentCafe, there is cause for concern. Halifax’s poor vacancy rate is a well-known problem, but having the highest in-place rent growth in the country is another notable issue.
Halifax rents are already relatively high. Zumper finds that the average monthly rent in Halifax for a one-bedroom unit is $2,095. The average for a two-bedroom unit is $2,463. It’s possible that those looking at RentCafe listings, whose viewing data is calculated as part of this renter interest study, are looking to find something more affordable in a market suffering from price inflation. Yet, the fact Halifax is also marked as having the strongest new lease rent growth, may reveal that those signing new leases in the city are, on average, not finding affordable prices.
When you see that Halifax is rated sixth in renter interest across the country, don’t assume it’s a sign that rental conditions are improving. There’s a chance that interest is being driven by desperation.
