Good news for renters in Calgary: It appears rent prices are starting to drop, with the city posting another annual decline in costs.
Rentals.ca just released its December 2024 Rent Report, which compares the cost of rent in 35 cities across Canada.
Calgary was the 28th most expensive city to rent in, according to the data, with rent for a one-bedroom apartment falling 5.9% yearly to an average of $1,634.
A two-bedroom now costs $1,964 monthly, a 2% decrease from last month and a 6.8% decrease from December 2023.
As rents decrease in most Canadian cities, smaller cities account for the majority of places where renters experience annual rent hikes.
Waterloo posted the highest annual rent growth in the country last month at a whopping 26.1%. On average, a one-bedroom apartment in the southwestern Ontario city now rents for $2,048 monthly.
Our neighbours to the north in Edmonton also saw rent prices increase over the last year, paying an average of $1,355 monthly for a one-bedroom apartment. YEG saw a 5.9% increase annually but a 1.5% drop in rent compared to last month.
The top 10 most expensive places to rent were, unsurprisingly, in BC and Ontario; however, rent prices decreased in all but three cities over the past year.
Rentals.ca
Rentals.ca
The report added that the average asking rent for all residential property types in Canada declined to a 15-month low of $2,139 in November. Rents fell 1.6% annually in November, following a 1.2% decrease in October.
But despite the recent dip, average rent prices in Canada are still 67% higher than two years ago and 18.8% higher than they were three years ago.
Rentals.ca said that over the last five years, rent prices in Canada grew by an average of 3.4% annually, generally in line with the long-term growth trend.