Volatile March drops some Kelowna rents, boosts others

While 70% of Canada’s largest cities saw rent increases in March, the price of a one-bedroom unit in Kelowna actually fell 5% to $1,710, the largest decline in the country.

That drops Kelowna into fourth place in terms of the most expensive cities for rents in Canada, behind Victoria ($1,770), Toronto ($1,920) and Vancouver ($2,190), according to the latest report from Zumper released, April 13. Zumper is an online rental company that connects renters and landlords.

It’s still a 14.8% increase from March 2021.

The main part of that report lists the 23 largest cities across Canada. The only other B.C. city on the list is Abbotsford, ranking 13th with a one-bedroom unit costing $1,350 per month.

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One bedroom units are the standard used to rank affordability but the website also lists rents for two bedroom units.

On that list, Kelowna’s prices jumped 5.1% from February to $2,260, fourth highest in the country. That’s a 26.3% increase from last year.

Vancouver led the way in that category with the average rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,990.

The Zumper list is based on analyzing “hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country,” its web page says.

In a separate part of the report, it lists the median price of a one-bedroom unit in Kamloops at $1,539, a 12% increase from last year and an $11 per month increase from February.

That figure, however, is based on limited information with only six listings in the data base, Zumper cautioned.

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