The average price for a one-bedroom unit in Steeltown rose nearly six points between January and February. Photo credit: The Chronicle/Yolanda James
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton jumped 5.9 per cent between January 2023 and February 2023 according to the latest Rentals.ca rent report.
That means that Hamilton’s one-bedroom rental prices saw the highest month-over-month increase out of the 35 cities assessed in the Rentals.ca February rent report.
The average one-bedroom in Hamilton is reportedly $1,868, surpassing the $1,764 average measured in January.
Two-bedroom apartments in Hamilton saw the third highest month-over-month increase out of the 35 cities examined by Rentals.ca. The average two-bedroom rental in Hamilton rose 6.3 per cent to $2,280.
Only Red Deer, Alberta and Brampton, Ontario saw higher increases for two-bedroom units at 7.1 and 6.8 per cent, respectively.
The Hamilton prices also represent a large year-over-year increase from last February. One-bedroom rentals in the city are up 19.6 per cent from February 2022 and two-bedrooms are up by 21.9 per cent.
Despite the high prices, Hamilton has only the 16th highest one-bedroom rental price in Canada.
Ahead of Hamilton are (in order) Vancouver, Toronto, Burnaby, Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, Victoria, Vaughan, Guelph, North York, Kelowna, Kitchener, Ottawa, Brampton, and Barrie.
Hamilton’s rents remain below the Ontario averages of $2,130 for a one-bedroom and $2,573 for a two-bedroom.
For all rentals year-over-year, the province of Alberta saw the largest increase of 14.6 per cent, followed by British Columbia at 14.4 per cent, and Ontario at 13.5 per cent.
Nonetheless, Alberta rentals are relatively affordable at $1,271 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,595 for a two-bedroom.
Saskatchewan rentals are the least expensive of any province in Canada according to the report, averaging $998 for a one-bedroom, $1,167 for a two-bedroom, and $1,331 for a three-bedroom.
Rental.ca’s rent rankings are analyzed and written by residential real estate research firm Urbanation and represent the average of all monthly listings from Rentals.ca and Rentfaster.ca, including apartments, condos, townhouses, and units in single-detached homes.
The data differs from the numbers collected and published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) since CMHC data only includes purpose-built rental apartments and rental townhouses.
The average and median rental rates in the Rentals.ca report skew higher than CMHC’s data since CMHC rental rates reflect what the average household spends on rental housing and not the current market trends 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.
