N.S. rapidly losing some of its most affordable apartments, while cost soars for new ones
CBC
Some of the most affordable rental housing in Nova Scotia is rapidly becoming less so, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data analyzed by CBC News.
This is especially pronounced in Halifax where, according to the data, the median rent for apartments built in 1979 or earlier has increased more than 40 per cent in the last four years.
Those older apartments are among the most affordable in the city, with the median rent being around $1,300 per month in 2024.
The data is from the organization's annual rental market report, covering privately built rental housing with at least three units.
This erosion of the volume of affordable rental housing in the private market is a trend researchers have observed across Canada, said Cape Breton University associate professor Catherine Leviten-Reid.
"We're losing that more affordable housing stock faster than we are building new units," she said.
At the same time, the newest rental housing in Nova Scotia is nearly double the price of the oldest apartments.
In 2024, half of the apartments constructed between 2020 and 2024 had a rent of $2,150 or more per month. In Halifax, the median rent for new apartments was $2,200.
"These are new builds that are out of reach of lower-income Nova Scotians," said Leviten-Reid, who researches affordable housing.
Premier Tim Houston has repeatedly said that building new housing is the solution to Nova Scotia's housing crisis.
"It's just simple math," he said in 2022. "When you have people looking for homes, you build homes."
When demand for housing is greater than supply, people with more money have a competitive advantage, said real estate consultant Neil Lovitt.
That can drive up rents and encourage landlords to redevelop their apartments so they can be put on the market at a higher price.
Building new housing can help balance supply and demand, slowing down rent increases for existing apartments. But new construction won't increase the stock of housing that remains affordable for those who need it, Lovitt said.
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