1-bedroom rents in Lethbridge drop as 2-bedroom rents rise

Rent prices for one-bedroom apartments in Lethbridge are continuing to drop, but the cost of two-bedroom apartments continues to rise.

New rental asks for one-bedroom apartments in Lethbridge are $1,325 on average, according to the latest rent report from Rentals.ca.

That’s down nearly three per cent from the same time last year.

It follows the national trend, which has seen rents drop 2.7 per cent across Canada.

“Interesting because this is, you know, the heaviest time of year for rentals, right? This is the peak summer season. … But that hasn’t really been the case,” said Giacomo Ladas, associate communications director for Rentals.ca.

The average two-bedroom rental is up 4.7 per cent and now sits at $1,617.

Higher cost of living has many people looking for roommates, driving up demand.

Many are also staying in one apartment longer and want more space.

“People are not seeming to want one-bedroom apartments as much as they used to. … It used to be about 50 to 60 per cent of all leads that we saw for rentals, I’d say, were for one-bedroom apartments. And then over the last couple of years, that has really decreased, where we’ve seen a huge jump in two- and three-bedrooms,” said Ladas.

A drop in rents for smaller units hasn’t stopped people from needing to turn to rent supports.

Lethbridge Housing Authority now has more than 1,500 people and families on its waitlist for rent-supplemented units.

“I think we need more purpose-built rentals in the city of Lethbridge. We’re very short of that. Once we get more of that, that will help ease the demand on the system. And eventually it will start to stabilize those rents,” said Lethbridge Housing Authority CAO Robin James.

With big cities like Calgary and Edmonton in prime position to build more housing, rent across Alberta could become more affordable.

“Look at Vancouver; you can only build so much because of the ocean (and) there’s the mountains. It’s very limited in how you can expand it. Calgary, Edmonton—these cities, luckily, you can,” said Ladas.