Ottawa's strong and stable housing market is having a noticeable impact on rental rates.
According to the popular listing website PadMapper, rental prices for a bachelor and four bedroom apartment have increased by 7% in the last month alone. One bedroom apartments have decreased by nearly 2%, but are still up about 7% from this time last year.
"The fact that Ottawa is beating the slow moving seasons with rent rising shows that people want to move there and people are trying to move now instead of when everyone is moving in the Summer," said PadMapper spokesperson Crystal Chen.
In January, Ottawa had the second fastest growing one bedroom rent in the top ten largest markets with a unit going for an average price of $1,120 per month. Chen attributes the increase to growing demand for Ottawa combined with a spike in new, luxury apartment buildings entering the market.
"Definitely younger people are moving here and then people are also being priced out of Toronto and Montreal and they are looking to Ottawa for cheaper costs of living and that's increasing demand overall," she said.
The low vacancy rate, sitting at just 1.7%, is being tied to a strong year for condo sales. According to the Ottawa Real Estate Board condo sales jumped by 20% in 2017 with the average property selling for about $269,000.
"There is less rental inventory available because some of the rental inventory is being bought up," said past president of the Ottawa Real Estate Board David Armstrong. "There are affordable rentals available out there in the marketplace, they are just becoming more competitive."
The affordability in Ottawa compared to other major markets like Toronto and Montreal is also pushing the vacancy rate down. Rather than rent, Armstrong said many millenniums are buying into the market leaving fewer properties available to tenants.
