November 2022 Metro Vancouver Rent Report

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Metro Vancouver’s regional average rent prices have risen again heading into the winter months. Rental rates have been steadily climbing across Canada this year as the Bank of Canada continues to increase interest rates and vacancy rates remain low in many urban areas, meaning Metro Vancouver landlords & renters could well see rent prices remain high through the typically slower winter months.

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 Vancouver for November 2022. 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

November sees yet another month-to-month average price increase in Metro Vancouver. From October to November 2022, the region-wide average rent increased by $61 to a new average of $2,317 per month for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit. This marks yet another yearly high and brings prices well above the $2,300 mark, with some cities posting even higher numbers this month. Though the busy summer renting season is now over and done with, we expect prices to remain comparatively high throughout the winter as interest and mortgage rates climb higher and vacancies remain low.

Month-to-month rent change

This month saw a number of larger price increases in individual communities, particularly for unfurnished units which are generally more stable.

Looking at unfurnished units, North Vancouver (+10.44%) was a standout figure this month after seeing its prices rise practically throughout the year. Richmond (+7.21%) was another key area where we saw an unexpectedly large month-to-month increase, as were Langley (+5.67%) and Coquitlam (+5.65%). West Vancouver (-6.13%) and Surrey (-3.14%) were the only cities where prices declined, while in Vancouver itself, average rent prices rose by a scant 0.18%.

For furnished units, New Westminster (+22.13%), Richmond (+12.08%), and North Vancouver (+7.57%) all saw large increases, while Coquitlam (-13.88%) was the only notable city with an average decrease. In Vancouver, prices for a furnished, one-bedroom unit fell by an average of -4.74%.

Income-to-rent ratio

We gather data on renters’ income-to-rent ratio every month, and our most recent data shows that renters in Vancouver who use liv.rent are paying, on average, 37.94% of their income towards rent. This may be above the recommended amount, but is more on par with what we’re used to seeing compared to last month’s numbers.

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 – especially as prices continue their rapid climb due to Canada’s rising interest rates.

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? This October, the least expensive cities for square footage are Richmond, Langley, North Vancouver, and Surrey, while the most expensive city this month is Vancouver itself.

Renter demographics

On liv.rent, our renter demographics have seen a significant shift over the past year, with more and more renters from different age groups now using the platform. We’re now seeing a much more even spread, particularly with the recent influx of renters aged 35+ as well as increased representation from the younger, under-25 demographic. With that being said, the majority of renters that make up our community are between the ages of 25-34.

Pet-friendly rentals

We’re proud to say that liv.rent continues to be the rental platform with the most pet-friendly rentals. This November, other rental platforms had just 22.00% of units available that were pet-friendly while on liv.rent, 46.00% of listed units were pet-friendly.

Average unfurnished vs. furnished rates

This November, furnished, one-bedroom units rented for considerably more on average than their unfurnished counterparts. As of this month, unfurnished one-bedroom units are, on average, $96 less expensive than furnished units. This indicates that landlords who choose to rent their units furnished will be able to charge more for rent, likely as a result of increased demand for short-term rentals.

City breakdown 

Metro Vancouver’s rental averages vary greatly across the region, so we’ve broken up our data by municipality/city to compare the cost of one-, two-, and three-bedroom rates for both furnished and unfurnished units in different areas.

• North Vancouver had the most expensive one-bedroom, unfurnished units this month at an average of $2,760.
• Two-bedroom, unfurnished units in Surrey and Langley are cheaper on average than one-bedroom, unfurnished units in Vancouver.
• Unfurnished, three-bedroom units in Vancouver rented for well over $5,000 this month – at an average of $5,115.

Neighbourhood breakdown

We’ve broken down Vancouver into its individual neighbourhoods for a more complete look at the city’s individual rental markets. For a further breakdown of neighbourhoods in municipalities and cities outside of Vancouver, be sure to download our complete Rent Report.

Let’s take a look now at some of the latest averages from Vancouver’s many unique neighbourhoods. This November, Shaugnessy has become Vancouver’s most expensive neighbourhood at an average of $2,719 for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit, while the same type of unit rented for an average of $2,033 in Vancouver’s cheapest neighbourhood, Renfrew.

You can take a look at our neighbourhood breakdown for unfurnished units in Vancouver here. For the complete report, including furnished rentals for Vancouver neighbourhoods as well as full information for other cities in Metro Vancouver, be sure to download your copy below.

Most expensive cities in Canada

North Vancouver has become Canada’s most expensive city to rent in terms of unfurnished one-bedroom units, with the average one-bedroom, unfurnished unit in the municipality going for $2,760. West Vancouver falls to the number two spot with a monthly average rent of $2,655, while Richmond and Vancouver round out the list. This is now the second consecutive month where we’ve seen an all-B.C. list of the most expensive cities in Canada.

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Downloadable resources

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

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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

Data collection methodology

Our monthly rent reports use data from our own liv.rent listings, as well as data our team manually collects from other popular listing sites – looking at available basement suites, apartments, condos, townhouses, semi-detached houses, and single-detached houses for each area.

When collecting this data, we do exclude luxury properties listed at over $5,000, as well as rooms for rent and shared accommodation. Investing in manual data collection means that we only consider the current month’s listing, since we can filter out duplicate listings and older ads that haven’t been removed.

Another key difference between our data collection methods and some government agencies like the CMHC is that we only include current asking rent prices. Many official reports will include data for entire buildings in their reports, which tends to skew numbers lower since many units are already occupied, and may be rent-controlled or rented for significantly lower than the current rates.

As we are a Canadian rental platform founded and based in Vancouver, we want to ensure that we’re providing a completely accurate depiction of the rental market in the cities we look at.

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

October 2022 Metro Vancouver Rent Report
October 2022 Toronto Rent Report
October 2022 Montreal Rent Report