It appears New Westminster is one of the more expensive medium-sized B.C. and Canadian cities for apartment rentals.
That's according to the latest national rent report released Thursday, Nov. 7, by Rentals.ca and Urbanation.
The average asking rent for New West purpose-built and condo apartments is $2,512 per month, which is the fifth highest for mid-sized B.C. municipalities and 13th across Canada.
The price is 1.5 per cent less the average B.C.-wide rent of $2,549 — a 3.4 per cent year-over-year dip in October and the most expensive median among the provinces.
North Vancouver has the highest average asking apartment rent at $3,141 per month. New West's eastern neighbour Coquitlam is in second at $3,011 per month.
Rentals.ca classifies New Westminster as an "affordable market," but rents are continuing to grow across Canadian mid-sized communities.
And this is despite average asking rents for all residential property types in Canada declining by 1.2 per cent year-over-year last month.
It's also the first annual rent drop since July 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It is a rare occurrence for rents to decline at the national level," said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, in a news release.
"This is happening as the key drivers of rent growth in recent years — a strengthening economy, quickly rising population, and worsening homeownership affordability — are beginning to reverse. As a result, we can likely expect this trend for rents to continue in the near-term, particularly as apartment completions remain at record highs."
In Vancouver, rents for all residential properties dropped by 8.4 per cent, averaging $2,945 per month.
Broken down, the latest numbers show the average for a one-bedroom in Vancouver is $2,610 and a two-bedroom is $3,430.
