Vacancy Rates In Nanaimo Rise

 Nanaimo Vacancy Rates Up Sharply

Nearly Double Oct. 2010 - 2011

3.3% - 6.3%

The following information is taken from the CMHC Rental Market Report released in the Fall of 2011. As with all statistics they are seldom easy to interpret the underlying causes, however, the fact that the vacancy rate in Nanaimo has jumped from 3.3% in Oct. 2010 to 6.3% in Oct. 2011 likely means one of three things, people have left the area, people have purchased houses and no longer are in the rental market or there has been a sharp increase in available rental units.

If you consider the number of houses sold in Nanaimo over the period it is unlikely option two is a main factor.  Option number 3 is also not supported by the data which shows 3317 units in 2010 compared with 3324 unites in 2011.As to what conclusions can be drawn it will be interested to see what our local civic leaders have to say. I suspect it likely indicates a number of people leaving the area given the current employment challenges in Nanaimo. Whatever the reason the number of actual units involved is not all that significant even though the percentage change seems considerable if you are looking for 'trends'.

Map Showing Vacancy Rate Changes Oct. 2011 Compared With Oct. 2010

The dark blue bar shows vacancy rate for Oct. 2011 and the light grey bar shows the vacancy rate for Oct. 2010. Nanaimo shows a much sharper change than most other areas studied.

Follows are some more statistics relating to the Nanaimo Apartment Rental Market taken from the same study.

Total Number of Private Apartment Units & Vacancy and Rent in $.

(Note Vacancy % is 2010/2011 stats expressed in %, Rents 2010/2011 in $)

• Bachelor 245 units, 1.6% /7 .3% $519 / $538 
• One bedroom 1615 units 2.4% / 5.3% $648 / $661 
• Two bedroom 1336 units 4.8% / 7.6% $789 /  $802 
• Three + Bedrooms 128 Units 1.7% / 3.9%  $957 / $955 
• Total all categories 3324 units 3.3% / 6.3%

Total Number of Private Row (Townhouse) Units & Vacancy Rates and Rent in $.

• Bachelor 6 units no other data available
• One Bedroom 19 Units  0.0% / 10.5%   $659 / $656
• Two Bedroom 136 Units  3.8% / 9.6%  $816 / $841
• Three Bedroom 61 Units 8.1% / 8.2%  $973 / $978
• Total in all categories 222 units 4.6% / 9.5%