Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007

Rent crunch to worsen
" o& L1 A6 z" J! w1 M5 L8 YVacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%
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By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

' W1 T7 }+ Z  _9 EThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.

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.
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& y; e) A) Z: p3 i: e"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.

SIX MONTHS LOOKING

  p9 p, X9 r& ^: W* T. {: [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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* b* U3 L/ ~% P) A9 jFor now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.

8 P+ k5 F6 y4 J! [3 E1 E% sThey 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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According to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

/ Y3 p3 }3 Z" I! SThe rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

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.

Rates 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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5 u; s8 v: w9 l( C" F0 x  D"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.

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.

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.

, j! w3 d$ c0 a! J"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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4 M9 ^: N7 H1 m6 }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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9 e; }! o% Q4 ^0 \* MSchulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.

Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.
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, ?; i- D5 Z6 W# ?INVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR
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. F7 r5 L" T6 R9 B0 ["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.
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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:
" h2 |* k+ k+ T0 _% z) C, z5 h有房的, 房子在贬值.
" f; l8 h7 O4 {6 l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:
1 P6 S+ c2 b7 a7 b有房的, 房子在贬值.
1 b0 d  F& F5 L/ u4 N没房的, 房租在上涨.

待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!