Primary Market Vacancy Rates

Vacancy rates are a key indicator of the health of the rental housing market. A vacancy rate between 3% to 5% is considered to be a sign of a balanced market, where supply is meeting demand. However, persistently low vacancy rates can make it difficult to find suitable and affordable rental housing, especially for lower income households. The data presented here focuses on the purpose-built rental market (apartments and townhomes), which accounts for roughly one-third of all rental units in Metro Vancouver. While vacancy data for privately rented condominiums is available separately, data for other secondary rental types is limited.

Vacancy rates of purpose-built market rentals in Metro Vancouver

Vacancy rates of purpose-built market rentals by bedroom count

Vacancy rates and average annual rent increase of purpose-built market rentals in Metro Vancouver

Vacancy rates of purpose-built market rentals by bedroom count

Key observations

Vacancy rates in the region have varied substantially over the years but have remained below 3% for more than three decades. In 2025, the vacancy rate rose to 3.7%, the highest level in over 30 years and a sharp departure from the low vacancy rate of 0.9% in 2022 and 2023.
Historically, low vacancy rates have been associated with increases in rent costs. The inverse relationship between purpose-built vacancy rates and the average annual rent increase (same sample) is evident in Metro Vancouver over the past three decades. In 2024, the vacancy rate that increased from 0.9% to 1.6% was accompanied by a steep drop in same sample average annual rent from 9.5% to 4.5%. In 2025, the pattern strengthened with the vacancy rate rising to 3.7% and average annual rent decreasing to 2.0%. This demonstrates the well‑established economic principle that tighter rental markets (lower vacancy) tend to drive stronger rent growth, while higher vacancy moderates it.
Vacancy rates by bedroom count vary year by year but have generally followed the overall trend.
In 2025, studio units had the highest vacancy rate at 3.9%, followed closely by one bedroom units at 3.8%, and 3+ bedroom units at 3.8%.

Primary rental market vacancy rates by bedroom count

Notes

The glossary provides definitions of each technical term, ensuring consistent interpretation.
Jurisdiction and Metro Vancouver totals may not equal the sum of individual values due to rounding, data suppression, or the omission of smaller data points to maintain visual readability. If a geography is not listed or appears missing, the associated data was either unavailable or did not meet reporting thresholds.
Electoral Area A includes UBC/UEL (University of British Columbia / University Endowment Lands).
Data includes purpose-built apartments and rental townhouses.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) purpose-built market rental universe excludes secondary suites, non‐market rental units, and privately rented condominium units.

Source
This information is from Statistics Canada census data, and the CMHC Rental Market Survey.

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