Average price for one-bedroom units in Hamilton hit yearly high in July

Hamiltonians continue to feel the crunch of the housing crisis as the average price for a one-bedroom apartment continued to peak in July.

Single units in the city are costing renters $1,694 a month, the highest this year and up 5.7 per cent from June, a recent report from property listing service Rentals.ca found.

The month-to-month uptick was the fourth-largest among the 35 cities surveyed in the report.

It's part of a growing trend: rent prices for local one-bedroom flats have crept up every month since February - barring June and May, when the going rate remained the same.

Still, last month's price remained a far cry from what it was in 2021, with local renters now paying around 16 per cent more for single units.

In a shade of good news, the average price for two-bedroom apartments declined for the third consecutive month.

Double units cost Hamilton renters $2,024 in July, down 1.5 per cent from June. Like single units, year-to-year prices for two-bedroom flats also jumped around 15 per cent.

Hamilton sits around the middle of the pack nationwide relative to rent costs. The average price for one-bedroom units in Canada is $1,640 and $2,098 for two-bedroom units.

But neighbouring cities continue to outpace the rental rates seen in Steeltown.

In Guelph, the average price for one-bedroom apartment is $1,983, while two-bedroom apartments cost $2,255.

In Kitchener, one-bedroom flats are going for an average of $1,829, while two-bedroom units cost $2,182.

In London, the average price of a one-bedroom unit is $1,739 and $2,060 for two-bedroom flats.

Rentals.ca's latest rent rankings are the average of all monthly listings on the website. They include basement units, rental apartments, condos, townhouses, semi-detached and single-detached homes.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com