Finding a place to rent in Calgary is not easy and it is not expected to improve anytime soon according to the CMHC.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the rental vacancy rate has been about one per cent in Calgary since last fall.
“We saw a vacany rate up over five per cent back in 2009 and since then the vacancy rate has been moving lower,” said Richard Cho from the CMHC.
Liam Barr moved to Calgary and quickly found out that opportunities here do not extend to the rental housing market.
“I had a place rented through a real estate company actually here in Calgary, way back in December, and had paid three months’ of rent while living in Vancouver just so I knew I had a place in Calgary and when we showed up it just really wasn't the place we had rented,” said Barr.
Barr was now faced with looking for another place suitable for a student and his dog.
“I found lots of the managers and stuff, you’d call numbers off Craigslist or kijiji or rental sites and the voicemail boxes would be full. It’s just really, really hard to even get somebody to talk to let alone rent a place from,” said Barr.
The latest numbers are expected to be released in a few months, but CMHC predicts there won't be much improvement.
“I would anticipate finding a place will still take a little bit more time than usual and so with that, this will be, in terms of the feel and finding a place, it’ll probably still feel fairly similar to what we saw back in 2013,” said Cho.
It’s not just one or two bedroom apartments that are hard to find, demand for family and even luxury homes is also on the rise in the city.
Despite the low numbers, Barr has managed to find a new place to call home.
(With files from Rylee Carlson)
