I have been reading that the Canadian real estate market is starting to cool, and that the boom is over.  A lot of new inventory on the market is causing home prices to fall, which is creating a lot of opportunity for the buyer.

What I want to know is how this might affect the rental market.  I suppose you could argue that if people are having a harder time selling their home due to higher competition, then might these same people resort to renting their home out and wait for a better market?    I live in a city where the real estate market is not great right now, and in the past year you just don’t see very many for sale signs out.   The rental market is seeing a surge though.

I seem to remember reading that the Edmonton rental market is seeing a higher vacancy rate than they have seen in a long time.    We’ll see how this all pans out!  I predict that the vacancy rate for rentals will slowly start to rise over the coming year.     The higher price of gas, and the resulting price of food and other items will make people want to put off any major investments for a while.

I have had a few different people who manage or own corporate housing or short-term rentals in Canada place a photo ad with me, and have incredible success.   These folks paid for a full year, so they don’t have to worry about renewing every few months, and then I send them a reminder when their year is up.     For a full year photo ad on Canadarentals.net it is only $108 CAD.   That’s a pretty darn good deal considering that you get a google map, 5 photos, fraud detection info, and a custom mail form.     The people who have done this have all gotten numerous inquiries from their ads.   I am also developing a Corporate Housing section on the site that is starting to rank very well.