Current Calgary Rental Property Vacancies
The good news is that overall vacancies in the Calgary rental market is trending down from 2016. However, overall Calgary Rental Vacancies is still at an unprecedented high. This high rate is due to the many rental buildings, and investor purchased condo units being completed.
Although the actual vacancy rate can differ depending on who you talk to, we have comprised some vacancy numbers based on listing stats from our friends at "rentfaster.ca". Please note that the numbers shown are most likely higher as many buildings will list one unit, but have several available. Here is what we found.
As the numbers show, although we are trending down, we are a long way off from the numbers we experienced in 2014. The worst hit being in the townhouse/Duplex sector where listings have increased more than a staggering 330%. This is no doubt a result of single family homes being more affordable and most people have upgraded for the same or even lower price that they may have been paying.
Inner City Condos and Apartments
While most of Calgary is showing a a slight decline in vacancies, 1 bedrooms in the inner core are not so lucky. As the chart below shows 1 bedrooms with a vacancy listing increase of 7.6%. over 2016 And with vacancy listings well over 2x that of what they were in 2014, renters clearly have many options.
Developer Rental Specific Buildings
The numbers above do not take into account many of the buildings the have been built in the past 2 years in the downtown core.
Many of theses buildings will list one unit but have many options to choose from.The chart to the left shows the number of units that have come online in the past 2 years. one could safety add another 300 units to numbers above if you took the numbers and assumed a modest 20% vacancy rate. And with new construction going on it may get worse before it gets better. Telus Sky is slated to open later this year with 326 units and another 750 units from other building developments coming in 2018.
The Right Strategy
So how do you compete with all the other rental vacancies in Calgary? Simply put it comes down to the quality of the property at the right price. The right price could have you seeing red, but the alternative is far worse. Now is the perfect time to get your property looking its best, and that may require spending some money. Renovating now while rents are low and vacancy levels high, is a much better strategy than trying to do renos when the rents are high and vacancies low. The money you spend now could allow you an even higher rental rate when the market improves. For today, a reno could be the difference in a quick turn over or a rental that sits vacant for several months.
If you need help navigating the current rental vacancy situation, the professionals at Real Property Management are here to help. Please contact us at anytime with your comments, questions or concerns.
