One of Calgary's most popular bedroom communities may be a victim of its own success as the rental vacancy rate hovers close to zero.
Okotoks is a popular and picturesque community located about 18 kilometres south of the big city.
For months there has been little to no rental accommodations available in the town of about 25,000.
“Two or three years ago we had about eight properties and we couldn't rent them, so it just comes around, it's a cyclical thing and at the moment we're well under one percent,” said Andrew Fulcher of Prairie Management Realty Inc.
Fulcher has a handful of clients right now who are looking for a place to rent in Okotoks, but he says he's just not able to help them.
“I presume it's some kind of public/private scheme, with government help, but I don't think the government has much money at the moment, and so what you're left with is what we have, which is a finite number of properties,” said Fulcher.
The mayor of the town has served the community for almost 20 years.
“Over the time I’ve been on council there have been a number of incidents when we've been at or close to zero, so it's always been a tight rental market. We've had 43 percent growth in the last five years, in the last year alone we had 3.9 percent,” said Mayor Bill Robertson.
Danielle Hutchinson moved to Okotoks three years ago and is renting a bigger home than she had in Calgary for less money.
“I know Okotoks is really popular to live in because it's so close to the city and still a small town and nice neighborhoods, so not totally unexpected, but we did not think that when we moved here three years ago for sure,” said Hutchinson.
A year ago average rents in Okotoks ranged between $1400 and $1700.
