The City of St. John’s has released the results of its housing needs assessment report and it reveals what many have know to be true for some time; it’s getting increasingly expensive to live here, and increasingly harder to find affordable options.

The Committee of the whole at St. John’s council received its 2023 housing needs report to help inform the city for its 10 year strategy. The report uses information gathered from public consultations held this past spring.

It found affordable housing has decreased with the vacancy of rental housing decreasing from 6.5% to 3.1% since 2019. Rent has increased by nearly 34%.

The benchmark sale price for a home has increased by 16% since 2019 and now lists an average family home at $307,600.00

20% of respondents said they would like to live independently but lack of affordability and availability were the barriers to that. The survey can be found on the City of St. John’s website.