Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007

Rent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

( H% C# k  \) q# b! D6 yThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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. C$ ~5 Q/ v4 R4 U( r3 WThat'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.

7 G/ C2 B3 Y- C) t4 YSIX MONTHS LOOKING

8 C& I: g! l( E3 AJasmine 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.

  

For now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.

They have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.
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( O& U* E* F4 ?$ \" O& [) mAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

: g$ o( B  o. `4 L" s& GThe rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.
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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.

! A# h- q. c# ^3 }$ gRates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.

"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.
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9 l2 K9 \6 e6 pMaking it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.
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Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.
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3 [3 T3 ~" S. m3 W# g( @6 yWith 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.
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  t: |3 Q' H; X( I! |"It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.

"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."

Originally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.

Schulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.
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Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.

% f3 X! T; x1 j$ w9 d, B8 n3 |; BINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR

. P  X6 ]& m; {; }8 N9 {! ], |"The investors were causing the market to spiral."

! Q; }7 G3 E8 aThose investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.
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Hering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.

* h/ ^" `9 A, e* [( P- v: EThe 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:
. X  c/ [7 H% P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:
0 |" U4 \) s# P+ T% G& ?有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

7 _" `8 |/ W3 Q* e待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!