{
  "id": "vacancy-cheapest-quarter",
  "category": "Housing",
  "title": "Vacancy in the cheapest quarter of rental apartments, Greater Victoria",
  "geography": "Victoria census metropolitan area (Greater Victoria)",
  "scope": "region",
  "levels": [
    "Market (private landlords)",
    "Municipal (zoning and approvals)",
    "Provincial and federal housing programs"
  ],
  "plain_question": "Among the quarter of apartments with the lowest rents, what share were empty and available to rent in October?",
  "value": 1.1,
  "display_value": "1.1%",
  "unit": "of apartments in the lowest-rent quarter, October 2025",
  "period": "October 2025 survey",
  "period_start": "2025-10-01",
  "period_end": "2025-10-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "October 2024 survey",
    "previous_value": 0.2,
    "change_percent": 0.9,
    "change_unit": "percentage points"
  },
  "significance": {
    "significant": true,
    "text": "CMHC marks the change from October 2024 as a statistically significant increase."
  },
  "trend": "improving",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "A higher vacancy rate means more of the lowest-rent apartments are available to people looking for one.",
  "trend_basis": "1.1% in October 2025 against 0.2% in October 2024; CMHC marks the change as a statistically significant increase. Second quarter 1.7%, third 5.8%, highest-rent quarter 5.0%.",
  "since_text": "Highest-rent quarter 5.0% (2024: 6.6%).",
  "caveats": [
    "CMHC sorts the private apartments in its October survey by rent and splits them into four equal groups (quartiles). The first quartile is the quarter with the lowest rents; the rent limits of each quartile change every year.",
    "Purpose-built rental apartments in buildings of three units or more, all bedroom sizes together. Condos rented out, basement suites and houses are not included.",
    "CMHC grades each estimate for quality and marks whether a change is statistically significant; both are shown here.",
    "CMHC first published this table in its 2025 Victoria workbook, which gives October 2024 and October 2025. Earlier years are charted in the CRD’s growth strategy report but not published as data, so they are not shown."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Vacancy rate by rent quartile, Greater Victoria (October each year)",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "%",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Lowest-rent quarter",
          "area": "cma",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 0.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 1.1
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Second quarter",
          "area": "cma",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 0.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 1.7
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Third quarter",
          "area": "cma",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 3.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 5.8
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Highest-rent quarter",
          "area": "cma",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 6.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 5.0
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "refs": [
        {
          "key": "crd24",
          "style": "band",
          "label": "Recommended vacancy range in the CRD’s growth strategy report: 2% to 4% (not an adopted target)",
          "short": "CRD recommended range 2% to 4%",
          "area": "Victoria census metropolitan area",
          "source": "Capital Regional District, Regional Growth Strategy Indicators Report (2025 edition, report for 2024) (2025, page 22)",
          "url": "https://www.crd.ca/media/file/2025-rgs-indicators-reportpdf",
          "band": [
            2,
            4
          ],
          "end": "CRD range 2% to 4%"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 0.2
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 1.1
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "CMHC, Rental Market Survey, Victoria data tables (Table 1.4)",
    "url": "https://eppd1strscr01.blob.core.windows.net/cmhcprdcontainer/sf/project/archive/data_tables/data_tables/rental_market_report_data_tables_victoria/rmr-victoria-2025-en.xlsx",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-data/data-tables/rental-market/rental-market-report-data-tables",
    "publisher_page": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/market-reports/rental-market-reports-major-centres",
    "locator": "CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Victoria 2025, Table 1.4 “Private Apartment Vacancy Rates (%), by Rent Quartile and Bedroom Type - Victoria CMA”, column Total, row Q1",
    "reads": "Q1: Oct-24 0.2, Oct-25 1.1 (a, ↑)"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "CMHC Licence Agreement for the Use of Data",
    "url": "https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/about-us/terms-conditions/hmip-terms-conditions"
  },
  "attribution": "Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey data tables, Victoria, October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product.",
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (CMHC Rental Market Report, December)",
  "data_published": null,
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-13T05:22:31Z",
  "quality": {
    "Q1 2025": "a",
    "Q2 2025": "b",
    "Q3 2025": "a",
    "Q4 2025": "b"
  },
  "licence_type": "open",
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "outcome",
  "better_measure": null,
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "CMHC marks the change from October 2024 as a statistically significant increase.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "October 2024 survey",
      "value": 0.2,
      "text": "vs Oct 2024: +0.9 points"
    },
    "five_year": null
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 450.0,
    "delta": 0.9000000000000001,
    "vs": "October 2024 survey",
    "cur": "October 2025 survey",
    "why": "CMHC marks the change from October 2024 as a statistically significant increase.",
    "change": "0.9 pt",
    "one_year": "+0.9 pt",
    "long_why": "The series starts in 2024, so there is no reading longer than one year yet."
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 2,
    "rung_name": "Higher government target or benchmark",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "higher",
        "label": "Higher government target or benchmark",
        "text": "Regional benchmark: the CRD’s growth strategy indicators report, for this same measure, says higher vacancy rates across all prices are preferable and that recommended vacancy rates range between 2% and 4%. It is a recommended range in a report, not a target the CRD Board adopted.",
        "area": "Victoria census metropolitan area",
        "source": {
          "title": "Regional Growth Strategy Indicators Report (2025 edition, report for 2024)",
          "publisher": "Capital Regional District",
          "date": "2025",
          "url": "https://www.crd.ca/media/file/2025-rgs-indicators-reportpdf",
          "terms": "https://www.crd.ca/disclaimer",
          "refresh": "Yearly",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "crd_rgs25",
          "page": 22
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [
      "Recommended vacancy range in the CRD’s growth strategy report: 2% to 4% (not an adopted target)"
    ],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 2,
      "kind": "range",
      "label": "Recommended vacancy range in the CRD’s growth strategy report: 2% to 4% (not an adopted target)",
      "short": "CRD range 2% to 4%",
      "unit": "%",
      "set_by": "CRD",
      "instrument": "guidance",
      "document": "crd_rgs25",
      "page": 22,
      "area": "Victoria census metropolitan area",
      "fit": "full",
      "same_area": false,
      "polarity": "band",
      "chart": 0,
      "value_low": 2,
      "value_high": 4,
      "applies_from": null,
      "applies_to": null,
      "document_url": "https://www.crd.ca/media/file/2025-rgs-indicators-reportpdf",
      "applies_here": false,
      "same_measure": true
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": 2,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "MUN",
      "name": "Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13)",
      "decides": "Each council decides zoning and approves new housing in its own area.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga479",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 479",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_14#section479"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Can set housing targets for a municipality.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "hsa2",
          "label": "Housing Supply Act, s. 2",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/22038#section2"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "CAN",
      "name": "Government of Canada and Parliament",
      "decides": "Finances and insures housing loans through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "nha3",
          "label": "National Housing Act, s. 3",
          "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/N-11/FullText.html"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13)",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better"
  },
  "label_long": null,
  "target_line": {
    "form": 3,
    "text": "CRD recommended range 2% to 4% · 0.9 pts below the range",
    "target": 3.0,
    "gap": "0.9 pts below the range",
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": null
  }
}