Rental incentives in Kelowna aren’t the herald of affordability

A free month or two of rent sounds like a pretty sweet deal. It might even seem like landlords are desperate to rent out their units, but an expert in Kelowna said renters shouldn’t be so quick to celebrate.

Tenants can get two months of free rent at apartment complexes like Ledge on Lakeshore or Central Green right downtown. At The Rise on Dougall Road in Kelowna renters can get up to three months of free rent and free wifi. The list of deals for tenants goes on and on, and rent prices have even dipped a bit in the past year.

But Aoife O’Neill with The Agency Kelowna Property Management said it’s just an advertising scheme and landlords aren’t desperate to get units rented out.

“It’s more marketing,” she said. “I don’t see (rent prices) moving much more, demand’s already way up.”

These incentives aren’t new, but O’Neill said they have been more common recently.

She said offers that include a month or two of free rent, or six months of free parking are often meant to get people to accept inflated prices or rush into a decision.

“A lot of people are really seduced by them… it’s mostly the bigger companies that are doing them, like Mission Group,” she said.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Kelowna is down by 8.1 per cent over the past year, and 4.6 per cent for two-bedroom apartments, according to the latest report from Rentals.ca.

The median rent for a one bedroom apartment in the city is currently $1,995 per month, according to Zumper.com.

The vacancy rate has gone up from 1.7 per cent in late 2024 to 6.2 per cent at the start of this year.

Numbers like these and tenant incentives may make some renters think they have some agency, but O’Neill said that isn’t the case.

“They think they have the upper hand, but it’s starting to shift. So we’re seeing that a lot of people are negotiating and it’s rented by the time they finish trying to tell me that I’ve done my job wrong,” she said.

O’Neill said the rental market has been slowly trending towards affordability, but landlords aren’t desperate to get their units filled since most of them can afford to wait for a good tenant or use the time for renovations.

“A lot of these owners, while we were in a down market, let’s renovate your place. Let’s take them to the next level,” she said. “A lot of these people have had these (units) for over five years, if you’re in that situation, you’re not in such a struggle.”

It might not have felt like it, but as short-term rentals are set to return to Kelowna, O’Neill said the last few months have likely been the best time for renters to find a cheap place.

“The pipeline is really drying up. So those incentives are ending. And a lot of people in the last few months were actually in the best time that you’ll ever see for renters,” she said.