Looking for housing in Whistler ahead of opening day?
For a whopping $5,500 a month, you can rent a cosy one-bedroom townhome in Whistler Creekside.
Even by Whistler standards, the rental is on the expensive side. It comes with a small living room that doubles as a kitchen, as well as one bathroom and a bedroom. The apartment does not include any laundry facilities, but it has a patio and is close to the Creekside Gondola, so that's a plus!
The townhome is listed on Craigslist for the winter season (Oct. 1 to April 30) at $5,500 per month, but if you want to stay longer, the apartment is offered at a reduced rate for May and June at $2,200 per month.
For context, for $4,000, you can get a 3,100-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in the Hillhurst neighbourhood in Downtown Calgary, or a 1,150-square-foot, two-bed, two-bath luxury condo in Vancouver's Yaletown for $4,200.
According to rentals.ca’s national rent report for August 2022, the average rent for all Canadian properties listed on the site in July 2022 was $1,934 per month, an increase of 10.4 per cent over July 2021.
Located in Gondola Village, the property is zoned for nightly rentals, which might partially explain the inflated monthly rental rate.
According to a quick search on Airbnb, a short-term rental in the Creekside neighbourhood can cost anywhere from $155 to $228 a night, but those rates can rise considerably in the winter months.
The average daily rate for private vacation rental bookings in Whistler is $343, according to AirDNA MarketMinder. This includes complete chalets, which can go for as much as $2,150 a night.
Compared to the rest of Canada, Whistler continues to be the country's most profitable Airbnb rental location, beating out the likes of Vancouver, Toronto and Sun Peaks by a solid margin.
As is currently the case in much of Canada, affordability continues to be a major concern for Whistler residents. In 2021, food bank visits hit 9,365, up from 2,773 in 2018—a 337-per-cent increase.
