September 2021 Vancouver Rent Report

After a summer where rental rates were simmering around the same level for months, September has arrived and rents are going up again. In demand are the one-bedroom units in Downtown Vancouver, but we’ve seen areas where rental prices have been long dormant suddenly seem to wake up.

You can get the latest updates on the Vancouver rental market straight to your inbox when you subscribe to keep on top of the latest rent trends.

Let’s take a look now at the real, on-the-ground costs of asking rents in Metro Vancouver for September 2021. Plus, don’t forget you can download the entire report as a one-page infographic PDF below.

Jump to the following Vancouver Rent Report sections:

Average rent across Metro Vancouver

After only slight rental increases each month for many months, the cost of rent for unfurnished one-bedroom units saw a significant bump for September. In one month, the average jumped $63. This rise in rent could be due to increased demand at the start of a new school year, so we are interested to see where rental rates will be in October to see if this month is an outlier or the start of a new trend.

Month-to-month rent change

Comparing prices in August 2021 to September 2021, we are seeing some big changes particularly in furnished rents.

In Downtown Vancouver, rent jumped (+12.31%) significantly after simmering for months around the same levels. Also, rent went up (+7.91) in South Vancouver and New Westminster (+11.48) noticeably.

Other regions of Metro Vancouver like Burnaby and Surrey experienced practically no changes month-over-month.

Meanwhile, unfurnished rental rates went up slightly in most regions except for West Vancouver.

Income-to-rent ratio

We gather data on renters’ income-to-rent ratio quarterly and our most recent data shows that renters in Vancouver who use liv.rent are paying, on average, 36.6% of their income towards rent.

While traditional financial advice would be to spend no more than 30% of your income on rent, this advice is perhaps not well suited to the realities of renting in cities like Vancouver.

Still, landlords and property managers should look to see that a tenant can reasonably afford rent compared to how much money they make as part of their tenant screening process.

Rent per square foot

Where’s the cheapest place to rent in Metro Vancouver by how much space you get? In September, the most affordable places for square footage are Surrey and Richmond while the most expensive is Downtown Vancouver.

Overall, rent per square foot in Metro Vancouver is $2.48 while in Toronto it’s $2.18.

Renter demographics

We’ve been growing in the “Under 25” renter group recently. Now, it has surged to constitute 40% of liv.rent users making them the largest contingent followed by people who are aged 25 to 34.

Pet-friendly rentals

We’re proud to say that liv.rent continues to be the rental platform with the most pet-friendly rentals. In September, other rental platforms had 31% of units available that were pet-friendly while on liv.rent, 39% of units were pet-friendly.

Average unfurnished vs. furnished rates

The price difference between average rent for furnished and unfurnished one-bedroom units is just $138. In some neighbourhoods and for some listing types, the cost of furnished units is lower than unfurnished units. This trend has been happening for several months now in Toronto and we could be seeing a similar trend starting here too.

Neighbourhood breakdown 

Since rent in Metro Vancouver varies, we’ve broken up our data by neighbourhood so you can compare the cost of one, two, and three-bedroom rates for both furnished and unfurnished units.

• Unfurnished one-bedrooms are more than $1,700 on average almost everywhere except in Coquitlam and New Westminster.
• In South Vancouver, furnished units were on average cheaper than unfurnished ones.
• Furnished three bedrooms are the most expensive in North Vancouver.

Most expensive cities in Canada

B.C. is the most expensive place to be a renter when it comes to unfurnished one-bedroom units. Vancouver is the most expensive at $1,782, but close behind in the number three spot is Victoria at $1,695.

Meanwhile, rent in Toronto continues to hover around the $1,700 mark for the same unit.

Downloadable resources

Make Zoom calls fun and informative when you use the latest rental averages and trends as your virtual background.

Looking for the full report? Download it for free below.

Rental resources for B.C. renters

You can read these comprehensive guides for more information on renting in B.C. and using liv.rent to streamline your rental process.

• BC Residential Tenancy Agreement Explained
• Guide to BC Tenancy Forms
  
• The Complete User Guide To liv.rent For Landlords & Property Managers
• The Ultimate Renter’s Guide To Using liv.rent

Rethink The Way You Rent

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Subscribe to receive these monthly updates on the Vancouver rental market. Discover last month’s Rent Reports below:

August 2021 Vancouver Rent Report
August 2021 Toronto Rent Report
August 2021 Montreal Rent Report