Many vacant dwellings in September

The dwelling vacancy rate remains high in Quebec. This is according to a survey conducted by CORPIQ from September 3 to 9, which questioned more than 1,400 owners of all types of buildings in different regions of Quebec to see if they had one or more dwellings vacant.

The dwelling vacancy rate remains high in Quebec. This is according to a survey conducted by CORPIQ from September 3 to 9, which questioned more than 1,400 owners of all types of buildings in different regions of Quebec to see if they had one or more dwellings vacant.

The results on vacancy rates reach a total of tens of thousands of housing units:

Chaudière-Appalaches	2,2%
Lanaudière	3,2%
Laval	3,3%
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean	3,8%
Montreal	3,9%
Montérégie	4,1%
Outaouais	4,4%
Quebec (Capitale-nationale)	4,5%
Centre-du-Québec	4,5%
Laurentides	4,8%
Estrie	4,9%
Mauricie	5,4%
Bas-Saint-Laurent - Gaspésie	6,3%
Abitibi-Témiscamingue*	6,8%

Nearly a third of respondents have at least one vacant unit. Of these, many homeowners keep their dwellings free by choice instead of renting it (29%).

The lack of potential tenants matching their criteria (49%) or the need to perform renovations (37%) are the main reasons given by landlords who keep a vacant unit by choice. Others have said they are not willing to manage a lease at the moment.

*Abitibi-Temiscamingue had fewer than 500 units in the sample