Population boom squeezes Halifax vacancy rate back to 1%

The big influx of people to Nova Scotia from other provinces is being identified as a major reason for a further tightening of the home rental market in Halifax.

The city now has a one per cent vacancy rate, which is one of the lowest in the country, according to a report released Friday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

"If I were moving to Halifax right now looking to rent an apartment I would expect to be put on a wait list to be honest," said Chris Janes, a senior analyst in economics with CMHC.

While the vacancy rate was 1.9 per cent in 2020, it was one per cent the year before that.

The CMHC rental market report says interprovincial migration in 2021 to Nova Scotia was the highest it's been in more than 30 years, creating even more competition for apartment rentals.

"If we look at the details of the interprovincial migration, over half is that 20 to 49 group, which is considered core working age in Canada," Janes said. "Primarily I think it is people who are remote workers and have the ability to sit at a computer screen anywhere in Canada and do their work."

Nova Scotia's high COVID-19 vaccination rates and low COVID case numbers also made the province appealing to people from bigger and more crowded cities, Janes said.

The average monthly price of a two-bedroom apartment in Halifax jumped by 4.8 per cent to $1,335.

None of the findings are a surprise to 53-year-old Tim Lewis, who until recently had been looking for a place to rent for more than three months.

"Availability for affordable places for somebody like myself on a minimum wage is nil," he said. "One-bedroom apartments are going for $900 plus utilities, it's beyond what I can afford."

Lewis looked for a room to rent instead, but found those were also getting snapped up quickly.

He unsuccessfully searched Kijiji for rentals daily, but said he recently managed to find a room for rent on March 1.

Janes said 1,600 new apartments were completed in Halifax last year.

"We need to see much more new apartment construction coming to the market than what we have seen to help alleviate that issue and make it more easy for prospective tenants to find an apartment," he said.