Blog 5 Rent Reports 5 October 2021 Vancouver Rent Report

October 2021 Vancouver Rent Report

6 min read
Greg Park

Greg Park

Creative Content Writer at liv.rent

Published on October 01, 2021
  • Rent for unfurnished one-bedrooms in West Vancouver went up 14.53%.
  • Young renters (Under 25) now make up liv.rent’s biggest demographic
  • The average difference in cost for a furnished 1 bedroom suite vs. an unfurnished listing is now $172.

Last month’s sharp increase in rental prices seems to have largely held in most areas, with October seeing few significant fluctuations in price. The largest changes are in West Vancouver, where furnished units fell in price while unfurnished units rose substantially.

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 current rental costs and overarching trends in Metro Vancouver for October 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:

Complete October 2021 Vancouver Rent Report: Download Here


Average rent across Metro Vancouver

After seeing a significant jump in price last month, unfurnished one-bedroom units have once again levelled off in October. Prices have stayed nearly identical, which may signal a new baseline for the area. We’d previously guessed that the sudden jump in price was due to the usual back-to-school renting frenzy, but we’ll now have to see how this plays out over the remainder of 2021.

rental trend information for renters on liv rent


Month-to-month rent change

Rental prices across Metro Vancouver from September 2021 to October 2021 have remained relatively stable across the board compared to the large jumps of last month.

Though consistent in most areas, both furnished and unfurnished rentals had some interesting outliers. Unfurnished units in West Vancouver were up significantly (14.53%), while furnished units were down nearly as much (-8.06%)

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

Downtown Vancouver rent has cooled off slightly after the large gains made last month, both for furnished and unfurnished units.

percentage changes by neighbourhood for metro vancouver liv rent

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, 35.25% 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 October, the most affordable places for square footage are Surrey and Coquitlam while the most expensive is Downtown Vancouver.

Overall, rent per square foot in Metro Vancouver is $2.57 while in Toronto it’s $2.20.



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.

renter demographics on liv rent

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  • Pet-friendly rentals

    We’re proud to say that liv.rent continues to be the rental platform with the most pet-friendly rentals. In October, other rental platforms had 33% of units available that were pet-friendly while on liv.rent, 39% of units were pet-friendly.

    pet friendly rentals compared to other platforms liv rent

    Average unfurnished vs. furnished rates

    The price difference between average rent for furnished and unfurnished one-bedroom units is just $172. 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.

    average rent furnished and unfurnished one bedroom suite vancouver


    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 Surrey, Coquitlam and New Westminster.
    • In South Vancouver, furnished units were on average cheaper than unfurnished ones.
    • Furnished three bedrooms are the most expensive in West Vancouver.
    average rent by listing type unfurnished metro vancouver liv rent
    average rent by listing type furnished metro vancouver liv rent



    Gain comprehensive insights about your listings with the new liv.rent Landlord listing Dashboard. Sign in to unlock live insights – find out the average rent for a comparable property, number of views your listing received and more!


    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 $1,785, but close behind in the number three spot is Victoria at $1,675.

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

    vancouver is the most expensive city to rent in canada liv rent



    Downloadable resources

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

    Free Virtual Backgrounds: Download Here

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

    Complete October 2021 Vancouver Rent Report: Download Here


    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.



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

    September 2021 Vancouver Rent Report
    September 2021 Toronto Rent Report
    September 2021 Montreal Rent Report

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