Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007

Rent crunch to worsen
' s+ I4 h5 |/ D# o) o7 Y3 YVacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%
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( j3 _% x" Z9 i4 }By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

1 K# R6 Y9 z) q; d; Q' q& G/ pThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.

That's when the apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton is forecasted to dip below the current 1% - making it that much harder for already frustrated renters to find a place to live.

"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.

+ q3 _, P  V8 J+ e- iSIX MONTHS LOOKING
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Jasmine said she's already spent more than six months trying to find a decent place for her and her fiance to rent with no luck.
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For now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.
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, w% g! Z. {' Y' ]  QThey have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.

, S8 T1 B2 r% h# ?4 q" pAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

7 P  M% a2 n" E, }" Z7 nThe rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

: D/ j: ^5 m: ~A limited supply of new rental buildings is keeping the market tight, according to the CMHC's outlook for Edmonton, released this week. Apartments being converted into condos is further keeping a stranglehold on renters.
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6 E1 z( ^) w% [0 a( GRates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.

1 Z# F! }5 S1 V$ @( d  j1 h" o4 p"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.
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Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

+ `' g3 o1 ?& a+ L: o9 zMeanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.
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With a growing inventory, high prices, and wary buyers, houses can be on the market for months. The CMHC predicts listing periods will get even longer in the new year.

% ~4 A$ q  [- h# v9 D" l"It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.
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"Shoppers are shopping around a lot more now. They're taking their time. I have had one couple who have come in four times now, but they're not in any rush to make an offer."

) E0 B2 j/ ]- o! z" j4 YOriginally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.

; }* i5 q' ]& Y" ~3 cSchulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.
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* t5 I& m) f4 m5 H8 }- T) NHome prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.

! t  [/ u. m6 z) X2 F) TINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR

"The investors were causing the market to spiral."
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Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.
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4 _$ Z+ M0 a' e& J7 zHering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.

- ^2 u3 w, T9 X0 k% s5 E$ Z0 ]9 C9 AThe Edmonton Real Estate Board recently reported the average single-family home in Edmonton sold for $399,555 in September, down 1% from the previous month.

水管工

现在是大家的日子都不好过:
, d' Y0 a" b& x* v  Q# C5 R有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

YOKO

I wondered that how much the rental would be going up for just two bedroom apartment next year???

人生几何

原帖由 水管工 于 2007-11-5 09:42 发表
现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
, i" W- C3 C$ W- L没房的, 房租在上涨.

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; }( F& t# }+ G9 S; e2 s. P* f待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!