Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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Rent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

! t( q) k% r" gThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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That's when the apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton is forecasted to dip below the current 1% - making it that much harder for already frustrated renters to find a place to live.

) P; C) s0 z/ u" q! A"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.

SIX MONTHS LOOKING
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6 y1 ~! ~" Z! ?0 p0 `; w6 IJasmine said she's already spent more than six months trying to find a decent place for her and her fiance to rent with no luck.

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. l0 J) P6 d0 t& C: ^1 YFor now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.

They have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.
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8 f% i5 l: Y( |1 U7 E' R; l% vAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

* t+ J% e. T. t$ o% C3 _) A- kThe rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

3 T! ~: c$ c, |' PA limited supply of new rental buildings is keeping the market tight, according to the CMHC's outlook for Edmonton, released this week. Apartments being converted into condos is further keeping a stranglehold on renters.
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Rates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.

1 m& j" {* F+ u6 {. o"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.
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" H7 C8 ]' E0 R/ ?  K! b$ t# fMaking it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.
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Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.
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With a growing inventory, high prices, and wary buyers, houses can be on the market for months. The CMHC predicts listing periods will get even longer in the new year.
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"It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.

( I+ p& E/ E: q; \; D"Shoppers are shopping around a lot more now. They're taking their time. I have had one couple who have come in four times now, but they're not in any rush to make an offer."

Originally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.
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% ~, i7 |* g9 B+ dSchulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.

Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.

. `6 ^6 d6 x" X3 i5 e# sINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR
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$ A( M" }/ ]9 h& `; J0 E: S* `1 k% e* e"The investors were causing the market to spiral."
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Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.

6 P# j1 x1 h7 C" N  E, C0 W, AHering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.
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The Edmonton Real Estate Board recently reported the average single-family home in Edmonton sold for $399,555 in September, down 1% from the previous month.

水管工

现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

YOKO

I wondered that how much the rental would be going up for just two bedroom apartment next year???

人生几何

原帖由 水管工 于 2007-11-5 09:42 发表
现在是大家的日子都不好过:
! i5 P0 V+ h% l( E& a* v7 G有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

* x  Z2 N$ Q( k& ~4 F9 {" {
/ z- l0 N: E7 c$ K待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!