Niagara Apartment Market

Niagara Falls is located on the Niagara Falls and is named for its eponymous natural water feature. The city has a total population of 82,184 people and offers renters 3,234 apartments, giving the city an apartments to people ratio of 0.4 apartments per 100 people, possibly the lowest in the province among medium sized cities. The city offers investors approximately 258 apartment buildings, all less than 100 units in size and 47% of which are less than 5 units or smaller in size. Niagara Fall’s rental apartment market is a small market filled with aging, small-sized apartment buildings.

Vacancy Rates and Average Rents

Niagara Falls has a high overall vacancy rate of 6.1%. The highest vacancies are found among 1 bedroom apartments (7.3%), while the lowest vacancies are found among 3+ bedroom apartments (2.0%), indicating a market which is family-oriented (since families prefer larger apartments styles with more bedrooms). Average rents are well below the average for Ontario, ranging from only $508 for bachelor apartments to a low $840 for 3+ bedroom apartments. Average rents have seen a negligible increase from 2008 to 2009.

For Investors

Niagara Falls has always been a lower-end city for apartments, most residents with means finding housing in single-family properties. Apartments in the city’s rental apartment market are aging and scattered around the city, with some concentration of the oldest properties in the city’s downtown. Tourism obviously drives the local economy in Niagara Falls but this doesn’t help the apartment market except to provide a pool of low-paid hospitality workers that may need rental housing. However, high vacancy rates, lack of new apartment construction, and a predominance of extremely small buildings, suggests a market with tired product and low demand. Investors are advised to research this market carefully before buying.