One-bedroom & two-bedroom rents in Hamilton trending in opposite directions
Published January 20, 2022 at 8:11 pm
Based on the latest trends, pairing up with a roommate might be the best tack if you are looking for a new rental home in Hamilton.
The city, which already has some of the highest housing costs in North America when indexed to income levels, defied the ‘December dip’ when it came to average rents last month, at least for one-bedroom rental dwellings. The statistics indicate it is a completely different trend for two-bedroom rentals.
In fact, according to a newly released rental report, Hamilton had the third-highest increase in Canada when it came to the average price of a one-bedroom rental home. But it had the fourth-largest decrease in the average rent for a two-bedroom unit, and the annual decrease is the largest reported in the nation.
First things first: the one-bedroom average was $1,549 per month in December, which was a 4.52-per-cent increase from November. Only Ajax (5.89 per cent) and London, Ont. (4.91) had a higher increase for one-bedroom units out of the 35 cities and areas that are included in Rentals.ca’s and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s National Rent Report.
The fourth- and fifth-highest increases in the one-bedroom category were reported in Brampton (4.45 per cent) and Fort McMurray, Alta. (3.49). Nationally, the increase was just 0.41 per cent. The average rental price for all sizes and types of rental homes also dropped 1.50 per cent. Decreases in December are typical, the report’s authors said.
The year-over-year increase for Hamilton is just 4.87 per cent since December 2020. Overall, that $1,549 figure in Hamilton is 16th-highest in Canada. Previous, unrelated studies have suggested Hamilton ranks up there, or down there considering one’s perspective, with Vancouver, Toronto and San Francisco when housing costs are indexed with income levels.
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However, the average price for a two-bedroom rental home in Hamilton appears to have dropped. Rentals.ca and Bullpen state that the average was $1,841 last month, which is 21st among the 35 surveyed communities.
That figure also represents a 3.11-per-cent month-over-month decrease, and 12.42 per cent compared to 12 months earlier.
Only three cities showed a bigger month-over-over decrease: Saint-Laurent, Que. (-4.94 per cent), Niagara Falls (-4.80) and Victoria (-4.29).
Victoria’s year-over-year change for two-bedrooms was not available. But no other community in the report showed a double-digit decrease since December 2020, with Saint-Laurent, at 7.38 per cent, being the closest to Hamilton.
The full report is accessible at rentals.ca.
(Graphic via Rentals.ca)
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