February 2024 Metro Vancouver Rent Report

At a glance

• Rent prices in Metro Vancouver increased slightly this February – Following a fairly steep decrease from September to December, The average monthly rent price for a one-bedroom, unfurnished unit in Metro Vancouver has been gradually climbing again since the start of the year, but is still well below September’s peak. This February, region-wide average rent prices have increased by $12 to a new rate of $2,379.
• Are Langley’s affordable housing measures paying off? – Based on our February data, Langley was the only city that saw a negative year-over-year change in its average rent prices for a 1br unfurnished unit. This suggests that recent bylaw changes aimed at encouraging affordable housing projects and reducing rent for tenants may be starting to pay off.
• Canada’s rapidly rising rent prices showing signs of slowing – Across the country, rental rates grew less between Feb. 2022 to Feb. 2023 than between Feb. 2023 to Feb. 2024. A number of legislative changes are expected to compound this throughout the year, including a significant decrease in the number of approved study permits, and new rules for short-term rentals in B.C.

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

This February, Metro Vancouver’s average rent prices have increased for the second consecutive month. Even with recent increases, the region’s rental rates remain just below October’s levels. The Bank of Canada announced on January 24th that it would once again maintain the target overnight rate, which may see rates fluctuate or remain at their current levels throughout 2024.

We’ve recently 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 February 2024. Don’t forget, you can download the entire report as a PDF below.

Average rent across Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver’s average rent prices have increased again this February. This month, the average rent price for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit rose by $12, to a new average of $2,379. Since February 2023, Metro Vancouver’s average rate for a one-bedroom, unfurnished unit has increased by $128.

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’s individual cities, let’s break down the major changes for both furnished and unfurnished units this February.

Average rent prices have been in flux since the beginning of the year, with multiple cities seeing notable shifts this month. Looking at one-bedroom, unfurnished units, Langley (+6.57%), North Vancouver (+3.21%), and Surrey (+3.16%) saw the largest month-to-month increases, while West Vancouver (-4.50%) recorded the largest average decrease.

Furnished units also saw a number of noteworthy changes to begin the new year. The largest increases were observed in New Westminster (+10.88%), Richmond (+9.79%), and West Vancouver (+8.33%), while the most significant decreases took place in Langley (-7.09%) and Vancouver (-4.74%).

Rent per square foot

Where’s the cheapest place to rent in Metro Vancouver for how much space you get? As of February 2024, the least expensive cities for square footage are Surrey, Langley, and West Vancouver, while the most expensive cities for square footage are Vancouver, North 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 February 2024, the most common rental property type by far was apartments, representing 77.01% of active listings on the market. Partial houses (e.g. basement suites) were the second-most rented unit type this month, at 12.13% 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 February. Two-bedroom units were the most common type of listing this month at 47.85%, though one-bedroom units still represented 40.30% of all active listings on the market.

Average unfurnished vs. furnished rates

Average prices for unfurnished one-bedroom units increased slightly this month, while rates for furnished units saw a larger increase. As of this February, unfurnished one-bedroom units are, on average, $240 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.

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. Here are some highlights from our most recent findings:

• North Vancouver had the highest average rent prices for one- and two-bedroom unfurnished units this February.
• Average rent prices also rose for all types of units in North Vancouver, except for one-bedroom furnished units.
• Langley had the lowest average rent prices for unfurnished one- and two-bedroom units, as well as one- and three-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. Dunbar-Arbutus is Vancouver’s most expensive neighbourhood to rent in by far this month, with an unfurnished one-bedroom unit renting for $3,004/month on average. The same type of unit rents for an average of $1,871 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 February, all five of Canada’s most expensive cities to rent in are in Metro Vancouver. North Vancouver is the most expensive city in the country to rent in, while West Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond also make the list.

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, 44.01% 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.

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 February, other rental platforms have just 21.00% 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:

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