VANPLEX

Market & Money | Rental Market

Victoria's Rental Market, In Real Numbers

If you are holding a houseplex as rental, underwrite to current data. The latest CMHC figures show Victoria's purpose-built apartment vacancy at 3.3% — the highest since 1999 — even as rented condos stay near 0.3%. The market loosened, but family-sized, ground-oriented rentals are still scarce. That gap is exactly where a houseplex sits.

Key Takeaways

  • ✓Purpose-built vacancy 3.3% (Oct 2025), up from 2.6% — highest since 1999.
  • ✓Rented condo vacancy near 0.3% — family-sized rentals stay scarce.
  • ✓3-bedroom+ units command the highest rents — and the bylaw requires a 3-bedroom share.
  • ✓Victoria is under a provincial order to add 4,902 net new homes by 2028.

Average Rents (October 2025)

Unit type Victoria CMA City of Victoria (Zones 1–4)
Studio / bachelor $1,349 $1,311
1 bedroom $1,625 $1,595
2 bedroom $2,120 $2,078
3 bedroom + $2,886 $3,035
All units $1,805 $1,714

Purpose-built apartment averages, October 2025, from the CMHC Rental Market Report data tables. Vacancy figures corroborated by BC Gov News.

What the Data Says for a Houseplex

Vacancy at a 25-year high

Purpose-built apartment vacancy in the Victoria CMA reached 3.3% in October 2025, up from 2.6% a year earlier — the highest level since 1999. New supply is loosening a market that was extremely tight.

Rented condos stay scarce

Rented condo apartments tell the opposite story: vacancy near 0.3%, and rents higher than purpose-built (a 2-bedroom rented condo averaged $2,688 versus $2,120 for purpose-built). Demand for ground-oriented, family-sized rentals is real.

The 3-bedroom premium

Three-bedroom-plus units command the highest rents — and Victoria’s Missing Middle rules require a 3-bedroom share in every houseplex. The product the bylaw pushes you toward is the product the market pays most for.

Best For

  • ✓ Houseplexes with family-sized, ground-oriented units that match the scarcest part of the market.
  • ✓ Rental holds underwritten to the current 3.3% purpose-built vacancy, not 2022–23 figures.
  • ✓ Projects leaning into the 3-bedroom requirement, where rents are highest.

Usually Fails When

  • ✕ A pro forma assumes sub-1% vacancy and the rents that came with it.
  • ✕ Unit mix skews to studios in a market where family-sized supply is the gap.
  • ✕ Rent assumptions are not refreshed against the latest CMHC release.

What To Verify Before Spending Money

  • → The current CMHC vacancy and rent figures for the Victoria CMA and City zones.
  • → How your unit mix maps to the 3-bedroom requirement and rent premiums.
  • → Whether you are competing with purpose-built or scarcer rented-condo stock.

Where to Go Next

Strata vs Rental
Hold for rent or sell as strata?
Financing
How a rental houseplex gets funded.
Schedule P Rules
The 3-bedroom requirement, in the bylaw.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the rental vacancy rate in Victoria? +
In October 2025, CMHC reported the Victoria CMA purpose-built apartment vacancy rate at 3.3%, up from 2.6% the year before — the highest since 1999. Within the City of Victoria (Zones 1–4), the all-units vacancy was 3.2%. Rented condos remained far tighter, near 0.3%.
What are average rents in Victoria? +
For the Victoria CMA in October 2025, CMHC reported average purpose-built rents of roughly $1,349 (studio), $1,625 (1-bedroom), $2,120 (2-bedroom), and $2,886 (3-bedroom-plus), with an all-units average of $1,805. City of Victoria figures are similar, with 3-bedroom-plus units actually higher inside the city at about $3,035.
Does a softer vacancy rate mean Victoria is a bad rental hold? +
It means underwrite to current data, not to the sub-1% vacancy of a few years ago. A 3.3% purpose-built vacancy is still moderate, family-sized and ground-oriented rentals remain scarce (rented-condo vacancy near 0.3%), and Victoria is under a provincial order to add nearly 5,000 net new homes. The case rests on product type and location, not on assuming the tightest possible market.
Why does the 3-bedroom requirement help on the rental side? +
Victoria’s Missing Middle rules require a share of three-bedroom units in every houseplex, and three-bedroom-plus units command the highest rents in the CMHC data. Family-sized rental supply is genuinely short, so the unit type the bylaw mandates aligns with where rental demand and rent levels are strongest.

Official Sources Referenced

CMHC — Victoria Rental Market Report data tables
https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-data/data-tables/rental-market/rental-market-report-data-tables
BC Gov News — Greater Victoria vacancy rises to 3.3% (highest since 1999)
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025HMA0121-001265
Statistics Canada — City of Victoria Census Profile (2021)
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&DGUIDlist=2021A00055917034&SearchText=victoria

Screen Your Victoria Lot for a Houseplex

Enter any Greater Victoria address to check the zone, Traditional Residential designation, and how many units the Missing Middle rules allow.