Rental rates dipped in May, but Vancouver still most expensive city

Rates for Vancouver apartments were down in May, according to data released Tuesday, but the city is still Canada's most expensive rental market.

The median cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver dipped 2.3 per cent from April to May, according to data from listings site PadMapper.

The data was published as part of PadMapper's first Canadian Rent Report, which was compiled from all rental listings posted on the site in May. The report looked at the median (midpoint) listing prices from Canada's 25 most populous cities.

The data does not take into account additional factors that affect rent price, including square-footage, utilities, amenities and age of the properties.

Based on Vancouver ads, the median asking price for a one-bedroom in the city last month was $1,700 per month, down from $1,740 in April. For a two-bedroom unit, landlords asked for a median price of $2,780 per month, down 0.7 per cent from April.

While the slight dip may be encouraging for residents of an area with a red-hot real estate market, the data showed that Vancouver was still significantly more expensive than other Canadian cities.

First place Vancouver was unsurprisingly followed by Toronto, where the cost of a one-bedroom apartment was up slightly in May to $1,320 – nearly $400 less than Vancouver's median. The difference in markets was even more significant when it came to the median price of a two-bedroom, where the Toronto rate was $1,130 less than in Vancouver.

Other B.C. cities that made the list were Victoria, Kelowna and Abbotsford, where rental rates were up between 1.1 and 2.9 per cent compared to April listings.

In Victoria, PadMapper's median monthly rate for a one-bedroom was $1,100, while a two bedroom was just $300 more. The B.C. capital was the third most-expensive of the cities analyzed.

In Kelowna, one-bedrooms were listed at a median of $900 in May, and two-bedrooms were priced at $1,360, putting the city in 11th place. Abbotsford one-bedrooms were listed at a median of $790, while an extra bedroom cost $1,100.

Abbotsford ranked 20th, tied with London, Ont. and Quebec City.

The cheapest of the 25 most populous cities were both in Quebec, where the median asking price for a one-bedroom was less than $600, and a two-bedroom was less than $700.