Apartment Vacancy & Rental Cost Survey

Alberta Municipal Affairs and Housing conducts the annual Alberta Apartment Vacancy and Rental Cost Survey. The survey includes communities with a population of over 1,000 and have 30 or more rental units and identifies building type, building age, unit type, number of units, rental rates and number of vacancies in 63 Alberta communities. The survey does not include communities that are surveyed by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The following communities were surveyed during the months of May, June, July and August 2007.

 

Athabasca Banff Barrhead Bassano
Beaverlodge Blackfalds Bowden Cardston
Carstairs Claresholm Coaldale Crowsnest Pass
Didsbury Drayton Valley Drumheller Edson
Elk Point Fairview Falher Fort Macleod
Fox Creek Grande Cache Grimshaw Hanna
High Level High Prairie High River Hinton
Innisfail Jasper Lac La Biche Lacombe
Mayerthorpe McLennan Nanton Olds
Peace River Penhold Pincher Creek Ponoka
Provost Raymond Rimbey Rocky Mtn. House
Sexsmith Slave Lake Spirit River St. Paul
Stettler Strathmore Sundre Swan Hills
Sylvan Lake Taber Tofield Two Hills
Valleyview Vegreville Vermilion Vulcan
Wainwright Westlock Whitecourt  

Purpose

The survey provides the housing industry, private sector, and various government departments and agencies with essential housing information on private market vacancy and rental rates in multi-family rental dwellings in rural Alberta.

Methodology

The survey includes private, non-subsidized buildings containing four or more rental units. In buildings that contain both subsidized and non-subsidized units, only the non-subsidized units were surveyed. Store-top structures, which may have fewer than four units, are included in 24 communities, as they represent a significant portion of the total rental stock. The survey does not include rented single and semi-detached family homes, basement apartments or condominium units.  Units undergoing renovations at the time of the survey are also excluded.

Department data researchers gather information, using a pre-set questionnaire, through telephone or face-to-face interviews with apartment owners/managers, building superintendents and property management agencies. The survey identifies building type, building age, unit type, number of units, rental rates and number of vacancies.

All survey data records are subjected to complex computer editing in which validity and consistency of the responses are checked.

The overall vacancy rate for 2007 in rural Alberta remained at 1.4 percent.

The following tables have been extracted from the 2007 Apartment Vacancy and Rental Cost Survey:

Alberta Municipal Affairs and Housing thanks all those who contributed to this year's survey.

Questions, comments and suggestions concerning this survey are welcome and should be addressed to:

Alberta Municipal Affairs and Housing
Housing Services Division
Box 927
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2L8
Telephone: (780) 422-0122
Fax: (780) 422-5124

To contact us by e-mail: housing@gov.ab.ca

To be connected toll free in Alberta, dial 310-0000.

Copies of the 2007 Alberta Apartment Vacancy and Rental Cost Survey can be ordered from the Queen’s Printer Bookstore in person, by phone, fax, mail or through the Internet.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation conducts a yearly survey of apartment vacancies and rental costs in communities over 10,000 population. For more information, go to http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/ or e-mail rgoatche@cmhc-schl.gc.ca in Edmonton or rcorrive@cmhc-schl.gc.ca in Calgary.