The Halifax Market Index.
The same data we price your rent on — open for anyone. Average rents, vacancy, and new-build premiums across the 11 CMHC survey zones of Halifax and the surveyed Nova Scotia centres, from the October 2025 Rental Market Survey (63,898 purpose-built units).
The headline numbers, ready to quote.
The average rent for a two-bedroom purpose-built apartment in the Halifax CMA reached $1,828 in October 2025, up 6.7% year over year.
Halifax's apartment vacancy rate was 2.6% in October 2025, up from 2.1% a year earlier.
Halifax apartments built in 2000 or later rent for $2,091 on average — 19% above the all-stock average of $1,750.
CMHC measures a 28.7% same-structure rent gap between Halifax two-bedroom units that turned over and those with sitting tenants (October 2025).
Halifax's average two-bedroom rent has risen 81.9% since October 2014 — from $1,005 to $1,828.
Halifax rent index · 2BR · Oct 2014–2025
+81.9% · base 2014 = 100October vacancy rate · 2014–2025
now 2.6%Vacancy by survey zone · tightest first
CMHC · Oct 2025Average rent by construction period
new builds command +19%Buildings completed 2000 or later average $2,091 — $341 above the all-stock average. Building age is one of the strongest rent drivers in the survey, which is why our estimator asks for it.
New lease vs sitting tenant · by bedrooms
CMHC turnover tablesWhy new leases price differently.
Under Nova Scotia's rent cap, sitting tenants' rents rise slowly — so the market repriced at turnover. CMHC measures a +28.7% same-structure gap between 2-bedroom units that turned over and those that didn't (down from +33% a year earlier — the gap is narrowing as vacancy rises).
Listing data agrees: Statistics Canada's experimental asking-rent series puts the average advertised Halifax 2BR at $2,260 (Q4 2025) — well above the occupied-stock average. This is why the estimator prices "new lease" and "all tenancies" separately, and why setting the right rent at turnover matters: under the cap, that number follows the tenancy for years.
SOURCE: CMHC turnover tables, Oct 2025 · units with a new tenant in the prior 12 months, purpose-built apartments (3+ units), halifax cma
Every zone, every bedroom count.
— marks cells CMHC suppresses for confidentiality or reliability.
| Survey zone | Bach | 1BR | 2BR | 3BR+ | All units | Vacancy | YoY | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peninsula (South) | $1,520 | $1,793 | $2,274 | $3,313 | $1,994 | 4.2% | +4.6% | 11,979 |
| Peninsula (North) | $1,281 | $1,588 | $1,770 | $2,161 | $1,709 | 2.2% | +4.9% | 8,854 |
| Mainland (South) | $1,207 | $1,307 | $1,625 | $1,669 | $1,522 | 2.5% | +11.5% | 3,453 |
| Mainland (North) | $1,126 | $1,424 | $1,787 | $2,065 | $1,703 | 2% | — | 16,497 |
| Dartmouth (North) | $1,097 | $1,274 | $1,653 | $2,133 | $1,512 | 2.5% | +8.3% | 7,540 |
| Dartmouth (South) | $1,087 | $1,414 | $1,727 | $1,706 | $1,623 | 3% | +11.7% | 3,823 |
| Dartmouth (East) | $936 | $1,224 | $1,610 | $1,677 | $1,546 | 2.5% | — | 2,779 |
| Bedford | — | $1,335 | $1,910 | $2,376 | $1,911 | 1.3% | +4.6% | 1,987 |
| Sackville | — | $1,587 | $1,786 | $2,017 | $1,778 | 3.1% | — | 1,767 |
| Remainder of Halifax CMA | $1,173 | $1,723 | $2,204 | $2,664 | $2,137 | 2.7% | — | 4,368 |
| East Hants MD | — | $1,285 | $1,365 | — | $1,387 | 0.2% | — | 851 |
The other surveyed Nova Scotia centres.
| Centre | Bach | 1BR | 2BR | 3BR+ | All units | Vacancy | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truro | $796 | $1,011 | $1,273 | $1,753 | $1,232 | 1.5% | +7.7% |
| Kentville | $667 | $1,044 | $1,128 | $1,129 | $1,110 | 1.4% | — |
| New Glasgow | — | $842 | $1,070 | $1,291 | $1,038 | 1.9% | — |
| Cape Breton (Sydney) | $830 | $840 | $1,134 | $1,432 | $1,070 | 2.7% | — |
Halifax rent questions, answered from the data.
What is the average rent in Halifax?
As of the October 2025 CMHC Rental Market Survey, the average purpose-built apartment rent in the Halifax CMA is $1,750 across all unit sizes, and $1,828 for a two-bedroom.
What is the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in Halifax?
$1,828 per month (October 2025, CMHC). By survey zone it ranges from $1,365 in East Hants MD to $2,274 in Peninsula (South).
What is the vacancy rate in Halifax?
2.6% for purpose-built apartments as of October 2025, up from 2.1% the year before.
How fast are rents rising in Halifax?
Average two-bedroom rent rose 6.7% in the year to October 2025. Over the past decade rents are up 81.9% ($1,005 in 2014 to $1,828 in 2025).
Which Halifax areas have the highest and lowest rents?
Among CMHC survey zones, Peninsula (South) has the highest average two-bedroom rent ($2,274) and East Hants MD the lowest ($1,365), as of October 2025.
How much more do new apartment buildings rent for in Halifax?
Units in buildings completed in 2000 or later average $2,091 — about 19% above the all-stock average. Older cohorts (pre-2000) average $1,482 or less.
How much higher are rents for new tenants than sitting tenants in Halifax?
CMHC's same-structure comparison puts the gap at 28.7% for two-bedroom units (October 2025): units that turned over averaged $2,058 versus $1,767 for sitting tenancies.
Where does this data come from?
The CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2025 release (primary rental market, October surveys), retrieved and analyzed by Kirin Property Management. Methodology and downloadable CSVs are on this page; reuse is permitted under CC BY-ND 4.0 with attribution.
Download the datasets.
Halifax rents by CMHC survey zone
Average + median rents, vacancy, YoY, universe — all zones
Download CSVHalifax rent history 2014–2025
October survey averages + vacancy, all unit sizes
Download CSVNova Scotia surveyed centres
Truro, Kentville, New Glasgow, Cape Breton
DownloadKirin Property Management. "The Halifax Market Index." Data: CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2025 release. Retrieved 2026-06-10. https://www.kiringrp.com/market/ · CC BY-ND 4.0
Estimates start from the CMHC average rent for the selected geography and bedroom count (actual survey values). Where CMHC suppresses a cell, the estimator falls back to the geography's all-bedroom average scaled by the CMA bedroom ratio. An optional construction-era factor is derived from CMHC's rent-by-year-of-construction table for the same geography (CMA-level ratio when the zone cell is suppressed). Property-type and condition modifiers are Kirin model assumptions, not CMHC data. Output is bracketed +/- 10%.
Every figure on this page is an actual CMHC survey value for a real CMHC geography — no modelled zones, no interpolated series. Suppressed cells are shown as "—", exactly as CMHC publishes them. The rent index plots historical October survey averages (base 2014 = 100).
Published under CC BY-ND 4.0 — cite Kirin Property Management when reusing. Journalists and researchers who'd like the underlying data: email yuan@kiringrp.com.
SOURCE: CMHC Rental Market Survey, October 2025 release · retrieved 2026-06-10 · primary rental market (purpose-built rental apartments) · CAD · Monthly, gross (no utilities) · refresh annual (cmhc publishes each october survey the following december)
Market data is the start. Your address is the answer.
These are survey averages. Your unit's real number depends on its condition, comparables, and demand right now — that's what a Kirin CMA is for.