One-bedroom rents are down 3.8 per cent year over year from May 2023. Photo Credit: iStock.
The average one-bedroom rent in Hamilton was down 1.8 per cent month-over-month to $1,806 in May 2024, according to the latest Rentals.ca market update.
One-bedroom rents are also down 3.8 per cent year over year from May 2023.
Meanwhile, a two-bedroom unit in Hamilton costs an average of $2,165 which is down 2.4 per cent from the previous month and down a significant 6.3 per cent from last year.
For Canada-wide numbers, the report notes, “Average asking rents for all residential property types in Canada hit an all-time high of $2,202 in May, surpassing the $2,200 level for the first time.”
Canada-wide rents experienced a 0.6 per cent month-over-month increase and a 9.3 per cent year-over-year increase.
Out of all Urbanation and Rentals.ca rental listings in Canada, the average for a zero-bedroom studio for May was $1,631, a one-bedroom was $1,927, and the two-bedroom average was $2,334.
Thus the average one-bedroom and two-bedroom rents in the City of Hamilton are below the Canada-wide average.
Regarding rankings, the city of Hamilton is the 17th most expensive city to rent a one-bedroom unit out of the 35 cities examined.
The report notes that condo studios were the only housing type to record a Canada-wide annual decline in asking rents during May.
Meanwhile, purpose-built studios experienced the fastest annual growth of 17.8 per cent in May.
Purpose-built units are those in properties that are built specifically for rental or long-term tenancy and usually include amenities such as fitness areas, swimming pools, and communal spaces.
The report also notes that Quebec was the only province to record a month-over-month decline in apartment rents in May, down 0.6 per cent from April to an average of $1,999.
Meanwhile, apartment rents in Nova Scotia (+17.1 per cent), Alberta (+17.5 per cent), and Saskatchewan (+21.4 per cent) rose significantly.
Topping the list as most expensive (of the 35 cities in the report) are: Vancouver, BC; Burnaby, BC; Toronto, ON; Mississauga, ON; and North York, ON.
The most affordable (of the 35 cities in the report) are: St. John’s, NL; Fort McMurray, AB; Saskatoon, SK; Regina, SK; and Quebec City, QC.
OTHER LOCAL CITIES
Other Hamilton-area cities included in the analysis are Burlington, Brantford, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls.
Burlington ranks as the 7th most expensive one-bedroom unit rent with an average of $2,196, Brantford is the 18th most expensive at $1,800, St. Catharines is the 25th most expensive at $1,680, and Niagara Falls is the 26th most expensive at $1,616.
REPORT DATA
The data used in the Rentals.ca analysis is based on monthly listings from the Rentals.ca Network of Internet Listings Services (ILS).
The rankings and report are written by real estate research firm Urbanation.
The data differs from the numbers collected and published by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The Rentals.ca Network of ILS’s data covers both the primary and secondary rental markets and includes basement apartments, rental apartments, condominium apartments, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and single-detached houses.
The report’s writers say that CMHC rental rates are reflective of what the average household spends on rental housing and not the current market rents for vacant units.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
