Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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Rent crunch to worsen
, a% F' ?0 T9 ?" C6 i! u; AVacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

3 ~9 @" @8 d" UBy KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

7 L7 H! M. Y0 W" L0 s7 sThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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% e7 b9 X. [$ B) L. gThat'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.

  o; l2 ~0 f" T& U"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.
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1 r! R4 r, l4 r4 H- `: z6 D( LSIX MONTHS LOOKING

5 b9 y' g+ Q5 {3 f% x7 F/ O+ E; `! ^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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5 k& ]$ t8 j& G. h5 V7 yFor now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.

2 a, f6 `% G; F% T8 m  MThey have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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8 x, E. I, O" O% o9 M; E"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.

' z( Q9 N! d. g/ ]8 aAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.
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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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Rates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.
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; i' {$ b0 o# _7 v/ z. e"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.

Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

/ h+ n+ G3 s, l4 u* hMeanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.

  @% [8 k; [: o6 h2 AWith 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.

0 W, ]3 v- n) @+ P. F( Q"It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.
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: g9 f  ?( z2 l& r$ Z3 p"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."
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Originally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.
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* b" G" J, q' Q8 J* ~# d+ P7 P$ ZSchulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.

4 w5 T; K# G% u+ N# f+ U2 @Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.
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" n' _# R; c! r: ?, F4 u) B- KINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR

5 ]% r5 E% E7 I"The investors were causing the market to spiral."

' R9 ]/ C$ Y( ZThose investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.

Hering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.

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:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
4 X3 z1 |0 {* P; `- M) i/ ^1 X3 {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
现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
8 E! m7 k2 w3 Q# b& P* w6 E( v没房的, 房租在上涨.

' q4 O0 V$ T* y待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!