Economic recovery in oil provinces helps lower national vacancy rate: CMHC
The economic recovery in Western Canadian oil-producing provinces contributed to the first decrease in the national apartment vacancy rate in three years, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Tuesday.
In its 2017 Rental Market Report, the federal agency said the vacancy rate for purpose-built rentals in Canadian cities with at least 10,000 people fell to three per cent in October, down from 3.7 per cent a year earlier.
That returns the national vacancy rate to its 10-year average after a two-year spike.
“We’re finding that demand is strong for rental in Canada, including in some of the oil-producing sectors that were not performing as well over the last couple of years,” said Gustavo Durango, senior market analyst at CMHC.