Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007

Rent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%
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  k6 x* a6 S( X, S& _' n- RBy KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

+ @( ]: X+ n# s8 w& ^Think 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.

"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.
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0 c- [, M- Y; g, _) CSIX MONTHS LOOKING
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: q- z9 B6 }" Z6 ]: eJasmine 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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7 ~# }$ }* N+ w3 ~" LFor now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.
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- g+ L# {% a! A# d3 e5 A8 LThey have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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- ]) a7 i/ r3 s+ r"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.
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6 K  m$ D$ @; YAccording to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.

6 ]' s2 V: p- }+ B0 M1 [The rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.

A 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.
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4 t0 k' t2 ^  i% X; y"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.
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Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

& v& O2 d# |2 R+ m  aMeanwhile, 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.

"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."
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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.

) H  c' O5 M$ U+ K) b/ R; NSchulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.
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Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.
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( p6 v$ l; E6 r; aINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR
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"The investors were causing the market to spiral."

Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.

Hering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.

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:
& X4 j3 P  F) @& }  @0 g有房的, 房子在贬值.
- ~( O3 p5 n6 l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:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

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待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!