At a time when the local housing market is making trouble for those looking to rent, a new hot (cold?) listing has caught locals’ attention.
Following news that Vernon’s housing vacancy rate has dropped to historic lows, a resident shared an image to the Vernon Rant and Rave (Uncensored) Facebook group of a snow fort listed online as a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment in Vernon for $1,000 per month.
“And they will include one extension cord,” Kyle Lewis’s post reads, presumably to be used for heating.
Last week, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation published data for October 2020 which showed Vernon has a one per cent vacancy rate, due to the pandemic’s effects on top of a hot real estate market in the area.
“We have not had a market like that since 2008,” Vernon’s economic development and tourism manager Kevin Poole said. “For the last five or six years, Vernon has hovered around 1.5-1.6.”
Many residents are struggling just to find a place to rent, with the average two-bedroom suite costing approximately $1,500 a month.
Meanwhile, median home prices in B.C. are up nine per cent this year to $585,000, according to a report by Central 1 — the organization that handles financial services, digital banking and other resources for more than 250 credit unions — which also forecasts prices to climb another six per cent in 2021.
Following the lead of the tongue-in-cheek listing, another forecast could provide some market relief: Environment Canada is forecasting more snow for the Vernon area on Thursday.
READ MORE: Finding a home ‘impossible’ in Vernon
READ MORE: CMHC: Rental vacancies, prices edged up as COVID-19 spread across Canada