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Rents up, vacancy rate slides in Metro Vancouver

CMHC cites job and population growth, higher cost of condo ownership compared to renting

Metro Vancouver rental vacancy rates edged down to 2.6 per cent in April, from 2.8 per cent a year earlier, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Rents rose an average of 2.4 per cent over the same one-year period, with renters paying on average $854 for Metro Vancouver bachelor units and $1,210 for two bedrooms.

A CMHC report said downward pressure on vacancy rates in the region came from a combination of more jobs, a growing population from in-migration, and a "persistent gap between the cost of home ownership and the cost of renting."

It costs $773 more per month to own a Vancouver condo than to rent one, the report estimated.

Most new jobs in B.C. have been created in Metro Vancouver, which gained 35,300 jobs since the start of 2011.

In the Abbotsford-Mission area, the rental vacancy rate dropped to 4.9 per cent from 6.6 per cent in April 2011.