April 2024 Metro Vancouver Rent Report

At a glance

• Vancouver renters are spending over 60% of their monthly income on rent
  • As of this April, our data found that the average Metro Vancouver renter spends 61.65% of their monthly income on rent. This is over double the recommended 30% rent-to-income ratio and reflects the mismatch between supply and demand for housing in the region.
• Average rates for furnished one-bedroom units in Metro Vancouver rise significantly
  • While unfurnished one-bedroom units notably saw a $39 (+1.68%) increase between March and April, furnished one-bedroom units saw a much more significant rise – increasing by $251 (+10.05%) from month to month. It will be interesting to monitor this trend as new short-term rental regulations come into effect May 1st, which should return many former short-term rentals to the long-term market.
• Metro Vancouver’s rental rates mirroring last year’s price trends
  • Average rent prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units in Metro Vancouver are following a similar trend to 2023, dipping in March before a substantial increase in April. If last year’s trends are any indication, rates will likely continue their gradual rise throughout the summer months.

As the busy summer renting season approaches, Metro Vancouver’s average rental rates have increased after a brief dip in March. With this recent change, the region’s rent prices have rebounded to just below February’s yearly high. The Bank of Canada’s most recent announcement on April 10th indicated that it would once again maintain the target overnight rate, which is cause for cautious optimism for home and rent prices through the remainder of 2024.

We’ve published our 2024 Canada Rental Market Trend Report with in-depth analysis of average rent prices, driving factors, and predictions for the year ahead. You can download your copy here.

Let’s take a look now at the current rental costs and overarching trends in Vancouver for April 2024.

Average rent across Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver’s average rent prices have risen this April after a considerable decrease in March. This month, the average rent price for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit increased by $39, to a new average of $2,376. Since April 2023, Metro Vancouver’s average rate for a one-bedroom, unfurnished unit has increased by $113.

Planning on raising rent this year? B.C.’s annual allowable rent increase limit for 2024 is 3.5%. Find out when and how you can increase rent and ensure you’re complying with provincial guidelines by reading our updated Guide to B.C. Rent Increases.

Month-to-month rent change

To get a better sense of how rent prices changed in Metro Vancouver cities, let’s break down the most significant changes for both furnished and unfurnished one-bedroom units this month.

Multiple cities saw notable changes in average rent prices this month. Looking at one-bedroom unfurnished units, West Vancouver (+8.28%), Burnaby (+4.04%), and Surrey (+3.72%) saw the largest month-to-month increases, while Coquitlam (-3.72%), New Westminster (-1.79%), and Richmond (-0.69%) were the only cities from this list that had month-to-month decreases.

Rates for furnished one-bedroom units also fluctuated this month. The largest increases took place in Burnaby (+9.20%) and New Westminster (+6.90%), with Surrey (-1.92%) and North Vancouver (-1.25%) both seeing average rent prices decline from month to month.

Rent per square foot

Where’s the cheapest place to rent in Metro Vancouver based on how much space you get? As of April 2024, the least expensive cities for square footage are Langley, Surrey, and West Vancouver, while the most expensive cities for square footage are Vancouver, Burnaby, and North Vancouver.

Active listing data

We’ll also examine detailed statistics for currently active listings available on the market to see which property types and number of bedrooms are the most represented. For renters, these numbers show which types of units you’re most likely to encounter in the Metro Vancouver region, while for landlords, you can assess how much competition you’ll face based on the current supply.

Active listings by property type

For April 2024, the most common rental property type by far was apartments, representing 75.15% of active listings on the market. Partial houses (e.g. basement suites) were the second-most rented unit type this month, at 15.34% of active listings currently available to rent.

Active listings by number of bedrooms

In terms of the number of bedrooms, we saw a more even spread across active listings on the market this April. Two-bedroom units were the most common type of listing this month at 46.03%, though one-bedroom units still represented 42.81% of all active listings on the market.

Average unfurnished vs. furnished rates

Average prices for furnished and unfurnished one-bedroom units both rose across Metro Vancouver this month, with furnished units increasing in price by a significant amount. As of April 2024, unfurnished one-bedroom units are, on average, $371 less expensive than furnished one-bedroom units. This indicates that landlords who choose to rent their units furnished will typically be able to charge more for rent.

Looking for our full April 2024 Metro Vancouver Rent Report? Download your copy here to get all the latest insights, including a detailed breakdown by neighbourhood.

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 furnished and unfurnished units in different areas. Here are some highlights from our most recent findings:

• West Vancouver had the highest average rent prices for one-, two-, and three-bedroom unfurnished units this April, plus the most expensive one-bedroom furnished units.
• Average rent prices for unfurnished three-bedroom units fell in all municipalities except for Surrey this month.
• Langley had the lowest average rent prices for unfurnished one- and three-bedroom unfurnished units, in addition to two-bedroom furnished units.

Neighbourhood breakdown

We’ve broken down Vancouver into its individual neighbourhoods for a more complete look at the city’s 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. Downtown Vancouver is the city’s most expensive neighbourhood to rent in this month, with an unfurnished one-bedroom unit renting for $2,840/month on average. The same type of unit rents for an average of $2,127 in Vancouver’s cheapest neighbourhood, Sunset-Victoria Fraserview.

We’ve recently added more new neighbourhoods to our monthly reports that aren’t shown in the data below. To see data on these additional neighbourhoods, statistics for furnished rentals, as well as neighbourhood breakdowns for other cities in Metro Vancouver, be sure to download your copy of our full report here.

Most expensive cities in Canada

This April, four out of five of the country’s most expensive cities are located in Metro Vancouver. West Vancouver is the most expensive city in the country to rent in, while North Vancouver, Vancouver, and Burnaby also make the list. Markham is the lone GTA city in the top five, with an average monthly rent price of $2,404 for an unfurnished one-bedroom unit.

Other rental data

These insights are exclusive to our blog and are intended to give more context to each month’s rental data. Based on data sourced directly from liv.rent, these statistics provide a more comprehensive overview of the current rental situation in Canada.

Income-to-rent ratio

Each month, we gather data on renters’ income-to-rent ratio and our most recent data shows that renters in Vancouver who use liv.rent are paying, on average, 61.65% of their income towards rent. This is well above the recommended budget and signals that many Metro Vancouver renters are spending far more than they should on 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 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.

Renter demographics

On liv.rent, our renter demographics are fairly balanced across all different age groups. While many of our users are aged 25-34, there’s a good representation of renters under 25, as well as a notable amount of users over 35 years of age.

Pet-friendly rentals

We’re proud to say that liv.rent continues to be the rental platform with the most pet-friendly rentals. This April, other rental platforms have just 22.00% of units available that were pet-friendly while on liv.rent, 53.00% of all listed units were pet-friendly.

Downloadable resources

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

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

March 2024 Metro Vancouver Rent Report
March 2024 Toronto Rent Report
March 2024 Calgary & Edmonton Rent Report
March 2024 Montreal Rent Report