Kingston among highest rental prices in Canada according to report

Rents in the Limestone City have gone up while it has been trending downward in the rest of Canada.

Kingston appears to be bucking the trend when it comes to rental prices.

A report from digital rental platform Zumper puts the Limestone City in sixth among the Top-10 cities in Canada for rent.

According to the report, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit in Kingston is $2,000. That is a 14.3 percent increase year over year, the only city in Canada with a double-digit increase. A two-bedroom unit in Kingston goes for an average of $2,230, an increase of 5.2 percent.

The report's author Crystal Chen goes over the factors that has made Kingston one of the more expensive places to live in Canada.

Kingston's average rental price is higher than larger urban centres like Ottawa ($1,950/month) and Montreal ($1,800/month).

The average monthly rental price has gone down in a number of Canadian cities including Toronto that saw a one-bedroom unit go for $2,170, down 9.6 percent year over year, and Vancouver with the highest average monthly rent at $2,500 was down 0.8 percent. The national average monthly rental price is down by 4 percent.

Chen believes people are moving out of large urban centres and going to nearby medium-sized centres to live.

The report says the Canadian National Rent Index is showing a steady decline in rental prices. The median one-bedroom rent decreased by 0.7 percent last month to $1,809, while two-bedrooms dropped by 1.1 percent to $2,234. On an annual basis, one and two-bedroom rents are down 4.2% and 4.1%, respectively. 

Chen forecasts rental prices in Canada will continue to go down.

To see the full report, go to the Zumper website. 

Story by Ken Hashizume