Rental prices seem to be taking a dip in B.C. as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its 2025 Rental Market Report, which showed that Greater Victoria’s vacancy rate rose to 3.3 per cent, the highest it’s been since 1999.
According to the report, Victoria faces similar demographic trends to Vancouver with outflows of international migrants and students, along with a weak labour market for younger people – both of which reduced rental demand.
“These results show that our housing initiatives are paying off for renters. Vacancy rates in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria are the highest they’ve been in decades and rents are going down. In this past month, we have seen that B.C. continues to lead the country in asking-rent declines, down 8.5 per cent in the past two years,” noted Christine Boyle, minister of housing, in a news release.
The report notes that vacancy rates increased significantly in the downtown core and Saanich, mostly due to higher rental supply. Vacancy rates for new units in Victoria were higher than in areas outside the city, which CMHC says may be due to lease-up timing and more affordable rental options outside of the city.
Despite the rise in the vacancy rate, the average rent for a purpose-built rental two-bedroom apartment in Greater Victoria rose by 5.1 per cent, which the CMHC attributes to higher turnover and larger increases on turnover units, namely in Sidney and Langford, which have high shares of newer units.
According to the Rentals.ca December rent report, average rents across Canada have declined 3.1 per cent in the past year, the lowest since June 2023. The report noted that the steepest rent declines are focused in B.C. and Ontario, with B.C. being host to seven of of the top 15 cities recording the largest annual rent declines for apartments. The report indicates a one-bedroom in Victoria is going for $1,975 a month, down 5.6 per cent from a year ago.
Sam Holland, the director of Victoria housing advocacy organization Homes for Living, said he is happy to see vacancy rates and rent coming down, though there is a long way to go.
“I was looking for places with my partner a few months ago, and we were seeing overpriced units stay posted for multiple months, with landlords having to lower prices. It was fantastic to see,” said Holland.
He said the reason there’s been such rapid improvement in housing is because of the increase in units being built, along with lower numbers of international students and immigration, which eased pressure from the housing market.
“While lower numbers of international students and lower immigration numbers have helped take the pressure off the market, the CRD is still growing rapidly. We have a long way to go in removing barriers to housing,” he said.
Bailey.Seymour@vicnews.com