A trend of declining rents for vacant apartments in Hamilton has ended. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment had fallen a bit, month by month, since July, but that reversed in April and May. Rents for two-bedroom units declined from about April 2024 but are back up in the past two months.
Rents are still very high. The average rent reported by Rentals.ca for a one-bedroom was $1,824 in May. For that to be considered affordable (at 30% of pre-tax household income), you’d have to earn almost $73,000. Two fulltime minimum wage incomes would just top that. Half the one-person households in the 2021 Census earned less than $40,400.
The average vacant two-bedroom rented for $2,105 in May. For that to be affordable, you’d need a gross income of $84,200. That’s 2½ fulltime minimum wage incomes. In the 2021 Census, about half of all Hamilton households earned less than that.
There were actually 30 cities more expensive than Hamilton in May. Burlington had the tenth highest rents at $2,183 for a one-bedroom and $2,585 for a two. For those to be affordable, you’d need a household income of $87,320 and $103,400.