[URBAN NOTE] "Young professionals struggle to rent in 'crazy' real estate markets"

[rfmcdonald]

Nicole Ireland's CBC News item is, frankly, terrifying. Existence here feels so tenuous--if anything goes wrong ...

For many young professionals chasing the dream of home ownership, "I'll be renting forever" is a common lament as real estate prices in hotspots like Toronto and Vancouver remain sky-high.

But even with good jobs and decent incomes, some 20- and 30-somethings are realizing that renting an apartment or condo is no easy task in these enormously competitive housing markets.

"It's impossible — and that's with two working professional people," said Alena Rebmann, 32, of Surrey, B.C., who is searching for an apartment or condo to rent in Vancouver with her husband, Nawab Singh.

With a maximum budget of $2,500 a month, the two technology professionals are willing to cram into a small space if it means they can live in a downtown neighbourhood they like.

"We'll even settle for a bachelor [apartment]," she said.

Vancouver's rental vacancy rate is less than one per cent — the second lowest recorded in the country after Victoria — according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Toronto's vacancy rate of 1.6 per cent is also well below the rates in other large Canadian cities, including Montreal (four per cent), Calgary (5.3 per cent) and Halifax (3.4 per cent).