P.E.I. apartment vacancy rate hits record low

Looking for a bachelor apartment on P.E.I.? Try the other side of Confederation Bridge.

A report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released on Tuesday says the Island's apartment vacancy rate has fallen to a record low of 1.2 per cent, including a zero per cent vacancy rate for bachelor apartments.

Tuesday's report provides a detailed look at the apartment rental markets on P.E.I., including a separate look at Charlottetown and Summerside.

Immigration drove the vacancy rate in the capital below even the historically-low provincial rate.

"About 90 per centof the 1,710 people who immigrated to P.E.I. [in 2017] to the end of August, settled in Charlottetown," the report reads.

Further pressure is being added to the Charlottetown market by seniors looking to downsize and a lack of new supply. Only about 100 apartments were added in Charlottetown in the last year, for a total of 5,138.

In Summerside, where townhouses make up 40 per cent of the rental market, the vacancy rate in those townhouses is zero per cent.

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