Rental prices keep climbing in Burlington, but slower than nationwide

The increase in the cost of finding a rental property is slowing down in Burlington even more quickly than the Canada-wide average.

Average asking rents for all residential property types in Canada increased by 5.9 per cent year-over-year in July, reaching an average of $2,201 per month, according to Rentals.ca and Urbanation’s latest National Rent Report.

This represents the slowest annual rate of growth over the past 31 months. On a month-over-month basis, average asking rents grew by 0.8 per cent, reversing the previous month’s decline of 0.8 per cent.

Rents for purpose-built and condominium rental apartments increased by 0.5 per cent in July, averaging $2,156. Year-over-year, apartment rents grew by 7.4 per cent, driven by an 8.9 per cent rise in purpose-built rental rates, which now average $2,131.

In contrast, condominium apartment rents saw a smaller increase of 1.9 per cent, averaging $2,334. Studio rents for condominiums declined by 2.8 per cent annually to $1,887, while purpose-built studio rents surged by 13.7 per cent to $1,610.

“As we move past the peak of summer, we’ve seen very little of the uplift typically expected with the warmer months,” said David Aizikov, Senior Analyst at Rentals.ca. “However, as the weather cools and days become shorter, rental demand typically slows which may further slow market rent growth.”

The only Halton municipality on this month’s list is Burlington, which remains the fifth most-expensive city in Canada to rent a one-bedroom, trailing only Vancouver, Burnaby, Toronto and Mississauga.

The average one-bedroom in Burlington rents for $2,258, up 2.8 per cent from June, but down a fraction compared to last July. For two-bedrooms, the average price is $2,687, up 3.2 per cent from June and 2.4 per cent year-over-year.

British Columbia and Ontario were the only provinces with overall annual rent declines, with BC down two per cent to an average of $2,570, and Ontario down 1.5 per cent to an average of $2,396.