August 2023 Metro Vancouver Rent Report

At a glance

• The average monthly rental rate for a one-bedroom, unfurnished unit in Metro Vancouver has increased for five consecutive months, rising by $25 this August to a new average of $2,406.
• Vancouver is Canada’s most expensive city to rent in this August, with an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit renting for an average of $2,849/month.
• Metro Vancouver renters are now spending, on average, 41.89% of their monthly income on rent.

Looking for our full August 2023 Metro Vancouver Rent Report? Download your copy here to get all the latest insights, including a detailed breakdown by neighbourhood.

Summer has arrived for B.C.’s Lower Mainland, and seasonal demand, among other factors, has led to an increase in the region’s average rent prices this August. This also comes close on the heels of yet another increase to the target overnight rate by the Bank of Canada. Especially given the impending return of student renters in time for the fall semester, this summer could very well continue to set new benchmarks for average rental rates in B.C.

We’ve published our 2022 Canada-wide Annual Rent Report with even more rental data and statistics, including overarching trends 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 August 2023. Don’t forget, you can download the entire report as a PDF below.

Average rent across Metro Vancouver

August sees yet another average increase in Metro Vancouver’s rent prices. This is now the fifth consecutive month-to-month increase, with rates rising by a further $2,406 this August. The region’s average monthly rent price has now increased by $230 since this time last year.

Planning on raising rent this year? B.C.’s Annual allowable rent increase limit for 2023 is 2.0%. 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 prices changed in Metro Vancouver’s individual cities, let’s break down the major changes for both furnished and unfurnished units this August.

This month, prices for unfurnished, one-bedroom units in Metro Vancouver’s various municipalities were relatively stable. Vancouver (+5.87%), Richmond (+4.81%), and Surrey (+3.64%) saw the most significant increases from month to month, while the only major decline was in West Vancouver (-5.03%).

Rent prices for furnished units were much more volatile this month, mostly increasing in Metro Vancouver’s individual municipalities. Langley (+10.15%) had the most significant increase in the average rent for a furnished, one-bedroom unit, followed by Surrey (+8.48%), Burnaby (+6.72%), and Coquitlam (+4.43%).

Rent per square foot

Where’s the cheapest place to rent in Metro Vancouver for how much space you get? As of August 2023, the least expensive cities for square footage are Coquitlam, West Vancouver, and Langley while the most expensive cities for square footage are Burnaby, Vancouver, and New Westminster.

Active listing data

We’ll also take a look at 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 August 2023, the most common rental property type by far was apartments, representing 79.37% of active listings on the market. Partial houses (e.g. basement suites) were the second-most rented unit type this month, at 11.53% of active listings currently available to rent.

Active listings by number of bedrooms

In terms of the number of bedrooms, we saw a much more even spread across active listings on the market this August. Two-bedroom units were the most common type of listing this month at 48.83%, though one-bedroom units still represented 36.73% of all active listings on the market.

Average unfurnished vs. furnished rates

Average prices for both furnished & unfurnished, one-bedroom units rose this month. This August, unfurnished one-bedroom units are, on average, $236 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 during the summer months.

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.

• Unfurnished, one-bedroom units were most expensive in Vancouver this month, while North Vancouver had the highest average rent prices for furnished, one-bedroom units.
• Langley had the least expensive average rent prices for one-bedroom, furnished & unfurnished units.
• West Vancouver had the most expensive two- and three-bedroom furnished & unfurnished units this August.

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. The West End is Vancouver’s most expensive neighbourhood to rent in this August at an average of $3,079 for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit. The same type of unit rents for an average of $2,030 in Vancouver’s cheapest neighbourhood, Hastings-Sunrise.

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 full information for other cities in Metro Vancouver, be sure to download your copy of our full report here.

Most expensive cities in Canada

For the fourth consecutive month, all five of Canada’s most expensive cities to rent in are in Metro Vancouver. Vancouver has reclaimed the top spot as the country’s most expensive place to rent, with West Vancouver and North Vancouver not far behind. Richmond also makes the list, with Burnaby rounding out this month’s most expensive cities to rent in.

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, 41.89% of their income towards rent. This may be considerably above the recommended amount but isn’t an anomaly given the past few months’ average rental rates.

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 and increased demand throughout the summer renting season.

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 the majority of users are still aged 24-34, we’ve been seing more and more younger renters under 25, as well as increases in users over 44 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 August, other rental platforms have just 23.00% of units available that were pet-friendly while on liv.rent, 51.00% of all listed units were pet-friendly.

Downloadable resources

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

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:

July 2023 Metro Vancouver Rent Report
July 2023 Toronto Rent Report
July 2023 Calgary & Edmonton Rent Report
July 2023 Montreal Rent Report