Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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Rent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

& d" R% J4 N# `2 S# JThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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2 U0 k1 C8 d# G* p9 }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.

4 |. k& i% p" O"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.

SIX 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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They have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.

' W+ J; Q7 P4 X"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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; n. M& ~8 C8 H3 e# s# `3 aAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

& ], h' ?  x, H6 `" Q- \The rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

0 v3 h$ A( [* ~0 }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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  Y% u: `0 |/ tRates 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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1 Z8 u$ s. y! c# K8 ^# J" O( c4 ~Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.
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* b; H' c* u! J' z! iWith 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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"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."
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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.
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Schulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.

Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.

INVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR

# Z, c9 F& R; ~"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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Hering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.

The 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:
% [, @- m4 u* @9 ]% J7 x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.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

4 r" @' H* F* w9 l& ]: |2 K/ X* [待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!