Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released today the results of its latest retirement home survey. According to the survey, the vacancy rate for standard spaces (1) decreased in Quebec in 2014. It amounted to 7.5 per cent in February, compared to 8.7 per cent over the same period in 2013.
"The tightening of the retirement home market at the provincial level is observable in each of the major urban centres and results from demand rising faster than supply. There are regions for which market conditions led to a greater degree of tightening," explains Kevin Hughes, Regional Economist at CMHC for Quebec.
The Saguenay and Gatineau census metropolitan areas (CMAs) recorded the most notable drops (-4.7 point and -2.8 point respectively) while the other CMAs posted decreases ranging from 0.4 point to 1.4 point.
According to the 2014, the Québec CMA again posts the lowest vacancy rate (5.7 per cent) while the Trois-Rivières region shows the highest rate (13.6 per cent).
Rents
According to the 2014 survey, the average rent for a standard room in a retirement home was $ 1,557, compared to 1,520 $ at the same time last year. The breakdown of this result by unit type reveals a diverse picture.
For private rooms, the average rent was $ 1,502 for single rooms and was $ 1,551 for semiprivate rooms. As for apartments, the average rent ranges from $ 1,260 (bachelor suites) to $ 2,031 (two bedroom apartment).
(1) Places requiring less than an hour and a half of medical care per day