Investor-owned condominiums and houses now make up half of the rental accommodation in Metro Vancouver, where the rental vacancy rate has fallen to 1.4 per cent, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), down from 1.9 per cent a year ago. The average annual rental increase is running at 2.3 per cent, meaning the typical rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,237, with a one-bedroom renting for an average of $964 per month.

Investors are seeing both higher rents and lower vacancies for their condominium rentals, the annual CMHC Fall Rental Market Survey shows. The vacancy rate for rented condos is 0.9 per cent in the Metro region, the survey found, while average rents are from 10 per cent to 20 per cent higher than in the conventional apartment market. 

Low vacancies and rising rents have helped spur the multi-family rental market, with average prices for a Vancouver apartment building now above $230,000 per suite, according to HQ Realty Ltd., of Vancouver.