Rental costs in Nanaimo remain very high, despite a marginal drop on average rents in October 2024. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

cost of living

Nanaimo monthly rents see slight drop, but year-over-year increases remain high

Oct 11, 2024 | 4:16 PM

NANAIMO — Rent costs in the Harbour City have seen a short-term drop, but long-term pain still remains.

A new report from Rentals.ca shows the average rent price in Nanaimo for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,855 at the start of October 2024, a drop of 0.9 per cent from the start of September.

Two-bedroom units were also slightly cheaper, seeing a 3.3 per cent drop month over month, with an average cost of $2,378.

Both categories however saw notable year-over-year increases of 1.5 per cent and nine per cent respectively.

The National Rent Report ranks major centres across Canada for rental price, with Nanaimo placed as the 18th most expensive city nationwide.

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Vancouver, Burnaby and Toronto occupy the top three places with one-bedroom units starting at $2,402 and two-bedroom suites over $3,000.

Other B.C. areas included were Victoria (9th) and Kelowna (15th).

“The annual rate of rent growth in Canada moderated for the fifth consecutive month, slowing substantially since May when rents were rising by more than 9% per year,” the report noted. “However, average asking rents were 13.4% higher than two years earlier and 25.2% higher than three years earlier during COVID-19.”

British Columbia continues to outpace all other provinces for rental housing costs with an average price of $2,570, a drop of three per cent year over year.

Ontario and Atlantic Canada were between $200 and $300 less per month.

Saskatchewan provided the best value among surveyed provinces, with an average apartment costing $1,378 per month, despite also seeing a 24 per cent increase year over year.

Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut were not listed.

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