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Surprise in June: more housing available
News
The housing vacancy rate in the second week of June rose significantly to 1.6% in Quebec, compared to 1.0% in May.
In Montreal, the rate went from 1.1% to 1.9%. The results come from a CORPIQ survey to which 1,500 landlords responded, representing more than 30,000 units.
According to CORPIQ, several factors can explain this increase in the vacancy rate. The COVID-19 crisis has led tenants to change their plans and to come to an agreement with their landlord to terminate their lease. This is the case for those who have lost their jobs or for students who will not have to attend their classes physically. The unemployment rate, which was 4.5% in February, rose to 8.1% in March, 17.0% in April and then fell to 13.7% in May.
In addition, tenants with multiple leases and landlords with active short-term rentals no longer have tourists to sublet or rent their furnished accommodations to. They are therefore returning to the residential market and competing with other long-term rental units that were easily found before the crisis.
There are also companies that were renting furnished accommodation for their employees on the move: not all of them have renewed their leases.
Finally, some tenants vacated or left before the landlord was soon entitled to evict them for non-payment.
"There are thousands of vacant dwellings at the moment and more will be available soon," says CORPIQ's Director of Public Affairs, Hans Brouillette. "An economic crisis generally increases the vacancy rate. This increase could therefore continue in the medium and even long term. Employment will be more precarious. There will be more roommates and young people that may choose to stay longer with their parents. "
Adding together the currently unoccupied dwellings and the occupied dwellings but soon to be available, 4.4% of the housing stock is on the market for July, which is considerable. However, this does not mean that a lease will be signed for July 1st" continues the CORPIQ’s spokesperson:
"With the massive loss of employment income and the paralysis of the Régie du logement to deal with non-payment of rent cases, the experience of the crisis will now encourage landlords to be much more prudent. Their financial criteria for selecting candidates will rise. As long as the Quebec government does not introduce a deposit program, low-income tenants, those without any experience or with a legal record will have more difficulty finding housing. "
Available dwellings in the second week of June 2020
|
|
Unoccupied1 |
Available2 |
Conceded3 |
Total |
|
Laurentides |
0,5 % |
1,3 % |
0 % |
1,9 % |
|
Laval |
0,5 % |
1,2 % |
0,2 % |
1,9 % |
|
Bas Saint-Laurent-Gaspésie |
0,6 % |
1,5 % |
0 % |
2,0 % |
|
Centre-du-Quebec |
0,9 % |
1,2 % |
0,2 % |
2,3 % |
|
Lanaudière |
0,9 % |
1,3 % |
0,2 % |
2,4 % |
|
Monteregie |
1,3 % |
1,8 % |
0,2 % |
3,2 % |
|
Chaudiere-Appalaches |
1,0 % |
2,6 % |
0,4 % |
3,9 % |
|
Mauricie |
2,1 % |
2,4 % |
0,2 % |
4,7 % |
|
Saguenay-Lac St-Jean |
1,1 % |
3,4 % |
0,3 % |
4,8 % |
|
Quebec (Capitale-Nationale) |
1,4 % |
3,0 % |
0,4 % |
4,8 % |
|
Montreal |
1,9 % |
2,9 % |
0,3 % |
5,1 % |
|
Outaouais |
1,9 % |
2,9 % |
0,4 % |
5,2 % |
|
Estrie |
3,4 % |
4,9 % |
0,5 % |
8,9 % |
Source : CORPIQ
1 Available and can receive new tenants now
2 Occupied, but will be available soon since the lease hasn’t been renewed
3 A new tenant will soon move in