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Rental market eases in Trois-Rivières

Comments: 0January 4th, 2010 by admin

Posted by Moshe Alexander

The rental market eased in the Trois- Rivières CMA this year. According to the results of the Rental Market Survey conducted in October by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the proportion of unoccupied units reached 2.7 per cent, compared to 1.7 per cent in the fall of 2008. In so doing, the vacancy rate surpassed the 2-per-cent mark for the first time since 2002. This increase, the third in as many years and the largest, reflects a certain easing of the market. In fact, since 2003, rental market conditions had been particularly tight in the Trois- Rivières area, with the proportion of vacant units hovering around 1.5 per cent. It should be noted however average for the last 20 years (5 per cent). In the fall of 2009, 435 units were vacant (compared to 273 in October 2008) out of a total stock of 16,276 apartments contained in privately initiated buildings with three or more housing units. Many new units and a

The low vacancy rates registered in the area for the past several years greatly stimulated rental housing construction. Until now, this additional supply had been just counterbalanced by the strong demand, which was attributable to the dynamic migration. In 2009, however, rental housing construction maintained the same pace, but demand declined slightly. The weaker job market in the Trois- Rivières area therefore removed the upward pressure on rental housing demand. For one thing, the economic uncertainty that has been looming over Trois-Rivières for several quarters has forced some workers to leave this area for another. At the same time, this economic environment has made the area less attractive in the eyes of job seekers from other areas. Consequently, the supply of housing units exceeded demand, which pushed up the vacancy rate. In addition, financing conditions, which have rarely been so favourable, prompted a few renter households to access homeownership. Given the low mortgage rates, some may even have moved up their decision to buy, which, in turn, vacated a few rental dwellings.

In October 2009, stable rental market conditions were noted in four of the six CMAs in the province, as the Québec, Gatineau, Montréal and Saguenay areas did not register any significant change in their vacancy rates compared to October 2008. This past October, the Sherbrooke CMA had the highest vacancy rate in the province (3.9 per cent), followed by Trois-Rivières (2.7 per cent), Montréal (2.5 per cent), Gatineau (2.2 per cent), Saguenay (1.5 per cent) and Québec (0.6 per cent).

While the vacancy rates went up in all sectors of the CMA, Downtown and Bécancour stood out. In fact, these two zones, which had the highest vacancy rates in the CMA, were responsible for the increase in the overall vacancy rate. In October 2009, the proportions of unoccupied units reached 5.0 per cent in the Downtown zone and 9.1 per cent in Bécancour. When the market eases, the Downtown zone is quite often the first to see its vacancy rate rise. This is due to the fact that its housing stock is older. It has been noted that, as units are vacated in other sectors of the CMA, tenants leave their Downtown dwellings for these units, which are often newer and more modern. In Bécancour, the market seems to have been experiencing difficulties since the closing of a plant in this zone. However, the upcoming commissioning of the Twin Rivers Technologies oilseed crushing plant and the construction of a complex for the production of polycrystalline silicon for the solar panel industry in the industrial and harbour park should give a boost to this zone and put upward pressure on housing demand there.

Elsewhere in the CMA, the vacancy rates remained relatively low. The proportions of unoccupied units reached 2.5 per cent in Cap-de-la- Madeleine and Saint-Louis-de-France and 2.1 per cent in the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières sector, where demand for rental housing stays relatively constant in any given year, thanks to the presence of the university and the Cegep. Lastly, the vacancy rates attained 2.0 per cent in the North sector and 1.6 per cent in Trois-Rivières-Ouest.

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Posted in CMHC, Canada, affordable housing

Rental Market report

Comments: 0January 4th, 2010 by admin

Posted by Moshe Alexander

Vacancy rate keeps rising According to the results of the latest CMHC Rental Market Survey conducted in October 2009, the rental apartment vacancy rate1 increased again in the Sherbrooke CMA. After climbing by 0.4 of a percentage point in 2008 to 2.8 per cent, the vacancy rate continued to rise in 2009, reaching 3.9 per cent. As shown in Figure 1, the rental market has now been easing more significantly for the past three years in the Sherbrooke area. However, the proportion of unoccupied units still remained far from the levels observed in the late 1990s, when more than 7 per cent of rental apartments were vacant.

In the other CMAs across the province, the Québec area still had the tightest rental market, with fewer than 1 per cent of apartments vacant. As for the Saguenay, Montréal and Gatineau areas, their proportions of unoccupied units remained relatively stable between October 2008 and October 2009, edging down from 1.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent in Saguenay and rising slightly from 2.4 per cent to 2.5 per cent in Montréal and from 1.9 per cent to 2.2 per cent in Gatineau. In the Trois-Rivières CMA, however, the vacancy rate was up, reaching 2.7 per cent (+1 percentage point). Among all of Quebec’s urban centres with 100,000 or inhabitants, Sherbrooke had the highest percentage of vacant rental housing units in 2009, for a second straight year.

Supply increases while demand slowsThe vacancy rate hike in the Sherbrooke CMA in 2009 resulted from a moderating demand and a rising supply.

On the demand side, migrants who come to an area, whether from other areas of Quebec or elsewhere, are definitely one of the main factors. In fact, most newcomers to an area choose to rent when they arrive. The relationship between migration and the vacancy rate is illustrated in Figure 3, with high net migration often being associated with a tighter rental market and the opposite also being observed.

Preliminary data2 show that no substantial immigration gains should be registered in the Sherbrooke CMA since the last survey. Stagnant immigration is no doubt one of the factors that contributed to moderating rental housing demand in the Sherbrooke area this year.

As well, the Sherbrooke CMA has recorded negative net interregional migration3 of about 100 people among the group aged from 15 to 34 years4, for the past two years. In other words, more young people left the capital of the Eastern Townships than settled there. This decrease therefore moderated demand for rental housing units, as the young population is an important client group on the rental market. In fact, according to data from the latest census (2006), most Sherbrooke area households whose primary maintainer is aged from 15 to 34 years are renters.

In addition to migration, several other factors contributed to slowing rental housing demand in the Sherbrooke CMA in 2009. One such factor was that the labour market was less favourable for young people (labour force aged from 15 to 24 years) between the October 2008 and October 2009 surveys. Compared to last year, the average employment level fell by 14 per cent among young people aged from 15 to 24 years, with this decrease mainly affecting full-time jobs (-24 per cent). In these conditions, many young people may have been deterred from leaving the family home, or encouraged to share accommodations, which also slowed demand on the rental market.
Changes in the age structure of a population (in this case, the aging of the population) may also have an effect on the proportion of unoccupied rental housing units in an area. According to our latest demographic projections, the growth in the number of young households (aged from 15 to 34 years) in the Sherbrooke area will be relatively weak, if not stagnant, between 2008 and 2009, which will limit the potential renter client pool. Negative growth is even forecast for the next few years, which will further curb demand on this market.

Another major reason for the vacancy rate increase is that financing conditions have been favourable to home buying, which means that a number of renter households possibly became homeowners. In fact, the strong sales of existing and new homes registered in the CMA in recent years seem to support this point. The same scenario was likely repeated in 2009, which again drove up the percentage of vacant units in the Sherbrooke area.

With such demand conditions and a rental housing supply that increased by 2.5 per cent between our last two surveys (from 30,842 units in 2008 to 31,621 in 2009), it was therefore not surprising to see a hike in the vacancy rate in 2009 in the Sherbrooke CMA.

Lastly, it should be mentioned that, even with the low vacancy rates observed in recent years, the growth in the supply on the rental market has been rather limited. It should not be forgotten that, in the late 1980s, rental housing construction had been very strong in the CMA, such that the vacancy rates had hovered around 10 per cent in the years that followed. Some builders may have then decided to focus their activities on other market segments. Now, even with the low vacancy rates registered in recent years, rental housing construction has never returned to its previous pace. This is generally the case, as a lag is often observed between changes in the vacancy rate on a market and the ensuing adjustment in the level of rental housing starts.

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Posted in CMHC, Canada, affordable housing

Rental Market report

Comments: 1December 18th, 2009 by admin

Posted by Moishe Alexander

Vacancy rate stable in October 2009

According to the results of the Rental Market Survey conducted by CMHC in October 2009, the vacancy rate remained rather stable in the Montréal metropolitan area, reaching 2.5 per cent, compared to 2.4 per cent in October 20081. The stronger than expected homeownership trend, especially starting in the second quarter, and the job losses among young people aged from 15 to 24 years offset the increase in migration, which kept the vacancy rate relatively stable over the past year. After easing from 2002 to 2006, the Montréal rental market has since stabilized. That being said, conditions remain relatively tight compared to the 1990s.

The difficult economic environment also had a direct impact on young renter clients. Nearly 15,000 jobs, most of them full-time, were lost among the group aged from 15 to 24 years between October 2008 and October 20092. Although the people in this age group account for only 7 per cent of renter households, a vast majority (89 per cent) of them rent their dwellings3 . The job losses very likely forced a number of these young people to stay with their parents or share their apartments with more roommates. Therefore, the difficult job market conditions for people aged from 15 to 24 years resulted in a decrease in demand for housing.

That said, the arrival of more immigrants acted as a counterbalance for the renters who left the rental market. According to our forecasts, net migration in the Montréal CMA should reach 30,000 people in 2009, up from 28,600 in 2008. Montréal received more immigrants this year, thanks to the higher immigration targets set by the Government of Quebec. A large majority (84 per cent) of the 55,000 immigrants that the province aims to welcome annually will settle in Montréal, and most will first choose to rent a dwelling. Immigration puts pressure on the Montréal rental market and keeps the vacancy rate low.

On the supply side, there have been fewer traditional rental housing starts in recent years, even though the vacancy rate has been relatively low. Builders still seem to be further attracted to more profitable markets, such as the condominium and retirement home segments. The rather limited growth of the rental housing stock is also helping to maintain the vacancy rate at a low level.

According to the survey results, larger apartments, that is, units with two bedrooms and those with three or more bedrooms, appear to be the most popular. In fact, demand for roomier units, notably from families, has been steady. The vacancy rates in these two unit categories reached 2.0 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively, well below the rates recorded for bachelor apartments (3.7 per cent) and one-bedroom units (3.2 per cent).

As well, the vacancy rates by rent range also revealed differences depending on unit size. In fact, apartments renting for less than $500 per month recorded the highest vacancy rate (3.2 per cent). These apartments are less popular, because they are usually smaller. By comparison, units with rents from $500 to $899 and apartments renting for $900 or over had lower rates, at 2.5 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.

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Posted in CMHC, Canada

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