06-21-2020, 11:59 AM
(06-21-2020, 09:45 AM)panamaniac Wrote:(06-21-2020, 04:45 AM)Square Wrote: I don't know. Is $1500 for a 765 square feet 1 bedroom going down?
No idea, as I have never rented in Kitchener. I'm just thinking that there are going to be hundreds (thousands?) of vacant apartments in K-W by September, which makes me think that rents should be coming down. I know of several people here in Ottawa who have renewed their leases and negotiated a small reduction in their rent. I don't know how widespread it has become. Would it not usually be June/July when students are looking for apartments for the coming year? Although, as I said before, DTK might be the part of town least affected by this, if it's happening.
I think the area's most affected would be the Doon area of Kitchener, though unsure how bad it could be. Not a lot of rental apartments for students in that area.
As for the university area of Waterloo, the impact is going to be massive. I was out with some friends yesterday, and the one lady works at the University of Waterloo, and right now they're accepting just about anyone into their programs. And as for the apartments, they are going be empty. We would be talking about thousands of empty units. And a lot of lost business for retail/restaurant in that area.
I could see if affecting rent prices if none-students start renting student units, but would anyone actually do that? As for regular rental units, the market is still tight. But if incomes are down, then I could see market price reductions, but it would be given as a subsidy of sorts. That way they could go back up to regular rates once things get bette.