Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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8 a, w8 O( R+ X* a( xRent crunch to worsen
) [" R6 ], [# G! ^0 p: L, {Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

6 _+ x$ T) ?. KBy KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA
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0 \+ r  T- R9 k' W9 E5 AThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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- q& G! T/ y2 T0 W$ rThat's when the apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton is forecasted to dip below the current 1% - making it that much harder for already frustrated renters to find a place to live.

"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.
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  q! l$ d& f$ q* E) _: q4 XSIX MONTHS LOOKING

Jasmine said she's already spent more than six months trying to find a decent place for her and her fiance to rent with no luck.

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For now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.
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1 [/ c* h: p; WThey have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.

"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.

2 Z( W' _0 {0 z; y5 B# bAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

The rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

A limited supply of new rental buildings is keeping the market tight, according to the CMHC's outlook for Edmonton, released this week. Apartments being converted into condos is further keeping a stranglehold on renters.
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, o7 M" j! m$ A. m. ^2 ?* [Rates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.
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: B5 t) B! u. Q' ^"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.

" s9 n' s( d$ j9 k- K! }Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.

With a growing inventory, high prices, and wary buyers, houses can be on the market for months. The CMHC predicts listing periods will get even longer in the new year.
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"It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.

"Shoppers are shopping around a lot more now. They're taking their time. I have had one couple who have come in four times now, but they're not in any rush to make an offer."

" v, g4 R) \9 Y6 l; U3 F( VOriginally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.

; }4 q: L+ E- O0 d  x& w" hSchulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.

Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.
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6 K* [; i* S" D$ Z2 s6 m( KINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR

$ C  F# {2 ~1 P7 u. s"The investors were causing the market to spiral."
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Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.
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Hering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.

% i6 r  F2 U4 {The Edmonton Real Estate Board recently reported the average single-family home in Edmonton sold for $399,555 in September, down 1% from the previous month.

水管工

现在是大家的日子都不好过:
& q! i0 |, I! R# V! g( A有房的, 房子在贬值.
7 v& c" z8 S' M没房的, 房租在上涨.

YOKO

I wondered that how much the rental would be going up for just two bedroom apartment next year???

人生几何

原帖由 水管工 于 2007-11-5 09:42 发表
% b4 H+ B- {. l) W现在是大家的日子都不好过:
$ Z( r  D5 X" \. ^$ t) P' d) U有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!