The number of rental apartments in Calgary declined for the seventh consecutive year in 2010, says a federal agency.
There were 35,512 units in the city, down from 36,174 units in 2009, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Conversions of rental units to condos, combined with fewer newly completed rental buildings, have been the main contributors to the decline "for the last number of years," says senior market analyst Richard Cho of CMHC.
While apartment condo conversions declined for three consecutive years after reaching a peak in 2007, condo conversions have continued to surpass apartment rental completions.
In the first 10 months of 2010, 241 apartment rental units were completed.
However, 238 of those units were earmarked for social housing and were thus not added to the traditional rental stock. The remaining three units were purpose-built for the rental market.
