Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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9 P/ p0 ^& b' x/ D+ {4 URent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%
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By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA
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Think the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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6 ~8 X1 r( S& |) e* h5 _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.

; W) a# @/ {1 H- @6 N3 ?"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.
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+ L8 \# X, m9 g( P' [8 \4 MSIX MONTHS LOOKING

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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0 r3 @' C8 R5 H5 M6 R+ WFor 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.
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+ w- C! p' z. c' m: D, L9 @"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.

! L, {% V0 u3 \8 y% r0 uAccording 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%.

+ j4 ~  p" K1 O" S& E, AA 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.

: d3 w( r7 ^  y2 bRates 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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9 h* Y3 o- S# a"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.
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+ X! G0 M3 E# S. ?6 b3 T  {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.
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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.
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) H3 U& b( q- {% G# S. R' h* b  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."
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3 |# D4 V; c* N: b# dOriginally 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.
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Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.

2 F5 |0 y! x* F# d, xINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR
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"The investors were causing the market to spiral."

Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.

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.
3 H, A) }6 d5 ?- H1 q$ D4 p( @# ?& Z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.

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9 s. k& ]/ d- W, r9 k待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!