As Calgary’s housing market continues to heat up, finding a place to rent is also becoming more competitive.
It’s to the point that potential tenants will make rental offers before they even set foot in the house.
“This property was listed this morning around 10 a.m.,” Shamon Kureshi, CEO of property management firm Hope Street, told Global News of a home.
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The property is a rare detached home to rent in Auburn Bay – at a high rate.
Within hours, seven people asked about it.
“Of those seven requests, three were confirmed for viewings and there was one request that was sent by someone who is willing to rent the property without seeing it because that is the reality of the market we are in. currently find,” Kureshi said.
“It is difficult to keep (houses) available for more than a few days. And in many cases, properties are rented out before previous tenants move out.
“So there’s no downtime and that’s positive for landlords, but it’s also quite challenging for people looking to rent homes.”
It continues a trend the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation documented in its annual rental market report released in February, with the rental vacancy rate dropping from 6.6% in 2020 to 5.1% annually. latest.
“We expect the vacancy rate to continue to decline as demand returns to Calgary as Calgary continues its economic recovery as jobs continue to grow in Calgary,” said analyst Michael Mak. major in economics at CMHC.
Mak noted that the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hike will likely have a chilling effect on record sales figures, but he expects to see strong sales through 2023.
Kureshi said some landlords who turned to renting out their property during a weak real estate market are reconsidering their decision.
“What we’re seeing is that a lot of these owners are now turning to the real estate sales market, which is on fire as we know, and it’s getting very interesting to sell their property, to get cash and move on,” he said. . “However, the downside is that it takes a huge chunk of the inventory available in the rental market and it becomes a supply and demand curve.”
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The CMHC report noted that areas like the Beltline have recently seen apartment additions to the market.
But supply and demand are probably not the only factors affecting rent.
“From a rental rate perspective, we feel like we’re on the back end of a huge, long-running increase, and some of that is only 10 years old,” Kureshi said. “There really hasn’t been any significant price growth in the rental industry in Alberta over the last decade that hasn’t kept up with inflation, construction, renovation, taxes.”
The Hope Street CEO had some simple advice for people looking to rent homes.
“If you’re looking to rent a house right now, you really have to be quick. You need to know exactly what you want. And when you see it, there’s not really a lot of time to sit down and think about it or discuss it.
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