Canadian university cities facing surprising rental market downturn

Of relevance to Kingston:

For the last 10 years, Amélie Brack’s property-management company had no trouble renting out both halves of a duplex near St. Lawrence College in Kingston, one of Canada’s most notable student-dominated cities renowned for its high proportion of out-of-town students, with both St. Lawrence and Queen’s University in the area. This year, it’s still not rented out as the fall school term is about to start – a first for her. It’s not the only unit going empty, after demand for student housing in Kingston drastically fell in the past few months. “Up until last year, we would get 25 to 50 inquiries per week in August. This year, it’s been crickets. It’s quite a surprise,” said Ms. Brack, leasing manager for Limestone Property Management.

It’s a phenomenon that hasn’t shown up yet in any official statistical reports. But it’s one that many at ground level are observing, a noticeable U-turn from the last few years where there were often frantic bidding wars for student housing in the months leading up to the start of the fall term. They point to the cap on international students as a significant factor behind the drop. “The international student reduction has definitely affected us,” said Ms. Brack, who said that large, multibedroom houses in what’s called the student ghetto in Kingston are also going unrented and owners are finding themselves having to list them for rents closer to what a family could afford, rather than what five desperate students (or their parents) might be willing to pay: $2,700 a month for a four-bedroom, rather than the previous $4,000.

The cap for 2024 was set at 360,000 study permits for the country, a 35-per-cent reduction from the previous year.

In Ontario, internet searches for student housing near universities in Waterloo, Hamilton, and Kingston are down 46 per cent to 55 per cent, Ms. Yiu said.