Rent crunch to worsen

YOKO

Sun, November 4, 2007
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Rent crunch to worsen
8 ^6 Z! Q. k. l- I  TVacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

0 Q, w& X8 B+ I& h3 _By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA
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0 w9 a, I; n% B4 z9 FThink the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.
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0 y* y" i( I( @: x. |2 _That's when the apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton is forecasted to dip below the current 1% - making it that much harder for already frustrated renters to find a place to live.
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1 o6 x" D% R  K" S5 Y" K" P! T"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.
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SIX MONTHS LOOKING
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Jasmine said she's already spent more than six months trying to find a decent place for her and her fiance to rent with no luck.

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For now, the couple has been living with her brother and mother in a three-bedroom government-subsidized housing unit.

They have been scouring the city for anything - but have found nothing in their price range, around $1,100.
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/ Y( d, D) s  P- ?"I graduated from college, but I'm still working two to three jobs just to supplement the rent payments," she said.
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According to new numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the apartment vacancy rate for Edmonton is a minuscule 1%.
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/ a+ m4 C: Q  ?The rent crunch isn't expected to get any better with the agency pegging the rate next October at just 0.8%.
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3 R+ U) h: T8 C# l5 m8 [' UA limited supply of new rental buildings is keeping the market tight, according to the CMHC's outlook for Edmonton, released this week. Apartments being converted into condos is further keeping a stranglehold on renters.

) r2 `3 Q* t! Z" @" U0 zRates are staying high with the average rent for two-bedroom apartments at $950 a month, up from $877 a month in October 2006.

9 A0 N) y9 N/ k" t' c4 i& M% W"With the rental rates being so high, you can only do so much," said Jasmine.

/ u* p2 C9 i9 c& m9 \Making it worse, she has pets, and few places accept animals.

Meanwhile, house sellers are facing a crunch of their own.

With a growing inventory, high prices, and wary buyers, houses can be on the market for months. The CMHC predicts listing periods will get even longer in the new year.
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  L& X& k3 i  ["It's been slow," said Alana Schulte, whose Goldbar home has been up for sale since June.
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"Shoppers are shopping around a lot more now. They're taking their time. I have had one couple who have come in four times now, but they're not in any rush to make an offer."
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Originally listed at $450,000, in late August, she dropped her price to $400,000 to entice buyers. So far, there have been only lookers.

Schulte bought the house for $165,000 less than five years ago.

Home prices skyrocketed because of investors buying up properties, said realtor Abe Hering.
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# @  J* |. }% r- uINVESTORS A HUGE FACTOR
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6 k4 w- r9 C, M7 S. }3 a"The investors were causing the market to spiral."
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Those investors have left the market, leaving mostly people looking for a home to live in.

Hering said there's just not enough of them to cause a real frenzy and they're often nervous about the high prices.
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  w, m' q/ B: p1 _* kThe Edmonton Real Estate Board recently reported the average single-family home in Edmonton sold for $399,555 in September, down 1% from the previous month.

水管工

现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
; s& }3 A5 z0 K: ?没房的, 房租在上涨.

YOKO

I wondered that how much the rental would be going up for just two bedroom apartment next year???

人生几何

原帖由 水管工 于 2007-11-5 09:42 发表
" A; f- r0 d7 N! B现在是大家的日子都不好过:
有房的, 房子在贬值.
没房的, 房租在上涨.

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待不住了，还有一个字“走”。

YOKO

Don't be sad!