July 2023 Metro Vancouver Rent Report

At a glance

• The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom, unfurnished unit in Metro Vancouver has increased by $51 – bringing the region’s average rate to $2,381 as of July 2023.
• West Vancouver had the most expensive two- and three-bedroom furnished & unfurnished units in the Metro Vancouver region this month, as well as the most expensive one-bedroom, unfurnished units.
• Apartments made up 79.69% of all active listings on liv.rent this month, with partial houses (e.g. basement suites) accounting for 11.61%.

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

Temperatures are rising across the Lower Mainland, and so too are the region’s rent prices. As of July, Metro Vancouver’s average rental rates have risen by quite a bit following the Bank of Canada’s latest increase to the target overnight rate. Combined with significantly increased demand for rental housing, it’s beginning to look like this summer could continue to set new benchmarks for average rental rates in B.C. – especially as students start to return towards the end of the busy renting season.

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 July 2023. Don’t forget, you can download the entire report as a PDF below.

Average rent across Metro Vancouver

For the fourth consecutive month, Metro Vancouver’s rental rates have risen. This July, region-wide average rent prices for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit have increased by a further $51 from the previous month, bringing the region’s average cost to $2,381. Since July 2023, the average rent for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit in Metro Vancouver has increased by $352.

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 July.

This July, we observed a number of notable changes to the prices of unfurnished, one-bedroom units in Metro Vancouver’s various municipalities. North Vancouver (+9.95%), Richmond (+5.67%), and New Westminster (+3.38%) had the most significant increases from month to month, while the only declines in average rent price were seen in Coquitlam (-4.20%) and Burnaby (-3.07%).

Prices for furnished units increased in some of Metro Vancouver’s individual cities while decreasing in others. The largest month-to-month increases occurred in Coquitlam (+6.89%) and Richmond (+6.45%), while the largest average declines took place in Surrey (-6.77%), Burnaby (-5.90%) and New Westminster (-5.05%).

Rent per square foot

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

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 July 2023, the most common rental property type by far was apartments, representing 79.69% of active listings on the market. Partial houses (e.g. basement suites) were the second-most rented unit type this month, at 11.61% 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 July. Two-bedroom units were the most common type of listing this month at 49.21%, though one-bedroom units still represented 36.77% 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 July, unfurnished one-bedroom units are, on average, $179 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.

• Furnished, one-bedroom units were, on average, $491 more expensive than unfurnished, one-bedroom units in Vancouver this July.
• Surrey had the least expensive average rent prices for both, one- and two-bedroom, unfurnished units.
• West Vancouver had the most expensive two- and three-bedroom furnished & unfurnished units this month, as well as the most expensive one-bedroom, unfurnished 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 is Vancouver’s most expensive neighbourhood to rent in this July at an average of $2,928 for an unfurnished, one-bedroom unit. The same type of unit rents for an average of $1,930 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 third straight month, all five of Canada’s most expensive cities to rent in are in Metro Vancouver. West Vancouver is still the country’s most expensive place to rent, with Vancouver in third place this month and North Vancouver taking over the second-place spot. 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, 36.65% 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 July, 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

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:

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