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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Rental vacancy in Canada is still in the red zoneThe rental vacancy in Canada has risen from 1.1% in October 2001 to 1.7% last month, testifies a survey made by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This increase is the first since 1992 but the vacancies still remain in the red zone. Below the level of 3.0% the market has been considered as being ruled by the landlords' interests. As a matter of fact the most important factor explaining the rental vacancy increase is the low interest rates that pulls out of the rental market thousands of tenants. They decide to buy a house or a condo instead of renting it, which compensates the influx of new immigrants that go predominantly on the rental market. This trend of buying instead of renting has been more noticeable in the biggest metropolitan area of the country like Toronto, where the vacancies has risen from 0.9% a year ago to 2.5% as well as in Calgary (1.2% to 2.9%). Also we can notice some major improvements in the capital city of Ottawa (0.8% to 1.9%) and in Edmonton (0.9% to 1.7%). Not so important but still considerable is the improvement in Vancouver (from 1.0% to 1.4%). The worst is the situation in the province of Quebec, where the main metropolitan areas show only a meager improvement like Montreal (from 0.6% to 0.7%) or deterioration like in Gatineau and Quebec-city (from 0.8% to 0.3%). The situation in this province can be explained by the fact that even with the low interest rates not so many tenants compared to the other provinces dare to buy a house fearing high property taxes. In the Atlantic provinces the vacancy rates are among the highest with Saint John leading the list with a rate of 6.3%. The outflow of tenants here can be explained by the internal migration of the local population caused by the chronic economic depression. The annual rents survey for the same period shows that the average monthly leases have increased in almost all urban areas in Canada. The greatest increase has occurred in Edmonton (8.4%). Toronto remains the most expensive city in the country, where an average 2BR apartment is rented for $1,047*. The lowest rents for 2BR are in Trois-Rivieres (Quebec) - $431**.
------ ** - The average rents in October 2002 for 2BR apartment in the most expensive cities in Canada are as follows:
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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Canada.
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