Source: Zero Hedge
Vancouver’s housing market is one of the least affordable in North America. A recent Craigslist ad for a “micro-studio” illustrated that as a bed was placed in the bathroom and listed for $680 per month.
Local news website “Vancouver Is Awesome,” says the micro-studio is located in the west end of town and boasted in the listing that it’s the “ideal” space for a single person looking to live downtown at an affordable price, “who does not need much space.”
The space, all 160 sq. ft of it, is located on Barclay and Bute Streets for $680 per month. The city of Vancouver defines a micro-dwelling at a minimum of 250 sq. ft.
The listing was recently removed from Craigslist, possibly because it violated Vancouver micro-dwellings guidelines that specify bathrooms must be separated from the central unit.
After a year of plunging rental prices because of the virus pandemic, the Canadian rental market is quickly recovering. Prices are still the highest across Canada and all of North America.
With normalcy returning to Vancouver, low-interest rates via the Bank of Canada sparked a speculative bubble in real estate that is further detached from fundamentals than ever before.
Investors and anyone else are locked in fierce bidding wars, sending prices to astronomical levels. The housing bubble continues to fuel higher rent prices making the metro area one of the most unaffordable areas to live and this may explain why someone listed a bathroom with a bed for $650 per month.
