Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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: p' t8 ~4 X! f0 @) K+ HRent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA
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; \  D/ \1 W- N. o! t! z) {Think the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.

2 V( {. W% d0 I# }" `* T- {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.

% O" c0 F2 u) ]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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# l3 {0 @4 h2 K' MThey have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.

"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.

9 Y7 b+ G7 g0 A' S. AAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.
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The 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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3 o/ d& I  J6 U  k& d; }2 yA 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.

5 l; f3 H4 m7 H% H7 {% @) w8 lRates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.
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"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.
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Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.

' \8 I# t5 g8 oWith 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.

: m# l$ T: u' h"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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1 f( D4 _+ A2 ^* c* GOriginally 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.

5 `! z6 }: D: E1 ?INVESTORS 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.

2 d: X  u3 K7 g! |1 v$ K: [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:
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
% j( G+ ^; I& g+ T6 q现在是大家的日子都不好过:
% Y7 I. M- r; b0 l8 S6 [: S" A- w有房的, 房子在贬值.
8 E# P3 m7 X2 [; O- U7 y; i) {没房的, 房租在上涨.

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: H- A0 W8 ^: v/ P待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!