Rental accommodation is becoming scarcer

Landlords have resumed listing their dwellings and are gradually resuming visits that were previously discouraged, without being banned. However, the choice is limited for tenants looking for a new address.

Indeed, the average vacancy rate was only 1.0% among the 45,000 units declared by respondents to the CORPIQ survey, conducted from May 6 to 11. It was 1.5% in April. Including dwellings that were occupied but whose leases were not renewed, the rate nevertheless climbs to 4.5% of dwellings available immediately or soon. 

On the Island of Montréal, 1.1% of dwellings were vacant in the second week of May, compared to 1.5% a month earlier. The availability rate was 5.1%. In several regions, however, the vacancy rate is now below 1%, as our table shows. 

After a drastic drop in visits and pre-rental screenings since the end of March, CORPIQ has noticed an upturn in activity since May, which is even higher than observed at this time last year. 

Survey by CORPIQ on available dwellings

from 6 to 11 May 2020

	Unoccupied1	Available2	Assigned3	Total
Centre-du-Québec	0,2%	2,6%	0,1%	2,9%
Outaouais	0,6%	2,3%	0,2%	3,1%
Estrie	1,1%	1,9%	0,2%	3,1%
Montérégie	0,8%	2,4%	0,2%	3,4%
Lanaudière	0,7%	2,7%	0,1%	3,5%
Laurentides	0,7%	2,5%	0,4%	3,5%
Saguenay-Lac St-Jean	2,2%	2,2%	0,0%	4,4%
Chaudière-Appalaches	1,0%	3,1%	0,6%	4,7%
Montréal	1,1%	3,5%	0,4%	5,1%
Laval	0,7%	4,1%	0,4%	5,2%
Québec (Capitale-Nationale)	1,0%	4,3%	0,2%	5,5%
Bas St-Laurent-Gaspésie	2,1%	2,6%	0,9%	5,6%
Mauricie	1,8%	7,2%	0,2%	9,3%
Use with caution
Abitibi-Témiscamingue	4,5%	3,2%	0,0%	7,7%
Côte-Nord-Nord-du-Québec	4,1%	4,0%	0,0%	8,1%

¹ How many vacant units do you currently have in each region?

² Do you currently have at least one tenant who has advised you that he or she will not renew his or her lease (i.e. his or her unit will become available, but is not yet re-rented)?

³ Do you currently have at least one dwelling occupied by a tenant who has advised you that he or she is going to transfer his or her lease to someone else?

Survey conducted by CORPIQ among landlords and managers of dwellings from May 6 to 11, 2020. 2372 respondents totaling nearly 50,000 units.

The respondents totalled more than 1000 dwellings in each region, except in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord-Nord-du-Québec and Saguenay-Lac St-Jean.

The median monthly rent charged by respondents for their dwellings was as follows:

Montréal (island)

• Studio: $680
• 3 ½ : 840 $
• 4 ½ : 920 $
• 5 ½ : 1275 $

Quebec City (National Capital)

• Studio: $595
• 3 ½ : 715 $
• 4 ½ : 745 $
• 5 ½ : 925 $

Montérégie

• Studio: $520
• 3 ½ : 600 $
• 4 ½ : 750 $
• 5 ½ : 900 $

Laurentians

• Studio : N/A
• 3 ½ : 560 $
• 4 ½ : 700 $
• 5 ½ : 790 $

The low number of dwellings reported by respondents makes it impossible to publish reliable statistics for other regions.