Calgary Apartment Association

This Article appears in our September 2003 Newsletter

CAA Completes Rental Survey
Vacancy Findings Double CMHC Rate

In July, a sub-committee of the Editorial Committee of the CAA undertook a vacancy rate survey. Our survey covered primarily CAA membership, with over 75 respondents taking part. Due to the nature of the survey, confidentiality was stressed; information was placed on a blank data-entry form, with no mention of the data source, so that ultimately there were no hard copies of confidential data specific to any company in existence, unless otherwise provided.

The CAA would like to thank all who participated – without your confidence, we would have gotten nowhere and we greatly appreciate the time and co-operation of all surveyed. Despite these extra steps to ensure confidentiality of participants, a number of members and non-members elected not to co-operate; this was not only disappointing, but diluted the effectiveness of the survey as well.

The methodology of the survey was as follows: suites were counted only if physically vacant on July 3. Geographic areas were split into Downtown, Inner City South, Inner City North, Suburban NE, Suburban NW, and Suburban SE/SW combined, as further defined below.

Overall, approximately 14,000 suites were surveyed, about one-third of the existing purpose-built, private rental stock - coverage certainly adequate to be statistically accurate. Our survey found an overall vacancy rate of 5.9%, equivalent to 817 vacant units - about 50% of which were two bedrooms, 40% were one bedrooms and the balance split between bachelor units and three bedrooms.

Geographically, vacancies were highest downtown (8%), and in the suburbs (6% - 7%), while Inner City neighborhoods to the north and south of the downtown core had the lowest rates - between 1% and 3%. Given the greater number of two bedrooms serving the suburban rental base, the suburbs carry a greater number of two bedroom vacancies, while one bedrooms are more available in the inner-city.

Each area is more specifically broken down as follows:

Downtown
(Central Core)

192 suites out of 2,426 surveyed were vacant, equivalent to 7.9%. Roughly two-thirds of these vacant suites were one bedrooms, and about 25% two bedrooms.

South Inner City
(ie. Connaught, Mission, Mt. Royal, Bankview)

75 suites out of 2,299 surveyed were vacant, equivalent to 3.3%. Roughly 60% of these vacant suites were one bedrooms, with the balance split 20% each between bachelors and two bedrooms.

North Inner City
(ie. Crescent Heights, Bridgeland, Sunnyside, Hillhurst)

Only 7 suites out of 756 surveyed were vacant, the lowest of all areas at 0.8%. Only two bedrooms were found to be vacant.

Northwest Suburban

147 suites out of 2,623 surveyed were vacant, equivalent to 5.6%. The split between one and two bedroom vacancies was about fifty-fifty.

Northeast Suburban

109 suites out of 1,529 surveyed were vacant, equivalent to 7.1%. One-half of these units were two bedrooms, and one-third were three bedrooms.

Suburban SE/SW

288 suites out of 4,326 surveyed were vacant, equivalent to 6.7%. Almost 75% of these vacancies were two bedroom suites.

Condominiums

A survey of approximately 500 privately owned condominiums, primarily in the downtown and inner-city areas, rented by the owners, was also undertaken. Within this group, a vacancy rate of about 9% was determined.

Single-Family Homes

A survey of almost 1,000 single-family rental homes revealed about 4% were vacant. Data gathered did not get specific to geographic location; this serves only as a sample of single-family rental vacancies in the Calgary area.

Feedback from our membership will determine frequency, effectiveness and usefulness of the CAA’s rental survey. Continued, and increased co-operation will help maintain accuracy. Specific findings of this survey may be released on a proprietary basis to CAA Members, based on the feedback received. Please contact Gerry Baxter, Executive Director at 265-6055 or via email at gerry.baxter@shaw.ca.

The Calgary Apartment Association would like to thank the following members for their kind assistance in developing and conducting the vacancy rate survey:

• Tim Sommer, Committee Chair and Vice President of Sable Developments Inc.

• Colleen Stanutz, Committee Co-Chair and Property Manager, Milton Bogoch Associates Inc.

• Pam Bridger, NewWest Enterprise Property Group

• Bev Briscoe, Resident Manager, Strathcona House

• Fern Fisette, Property Manager, Dawn Management and Realty Ltd.

• Pam Fry, Property Manager, Rancho Realty (1975) Ltd.

• Margot Jahn, Property Owner

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