Montreal’s average rent for February was down 3% compared to being up 37% at this time last year.

In an email shared with Daily Hive, Rentals.ca says the average asking rent for all Candian properties listed on its website in February was $1,714 per month, down 6% compared to February of last year ($1,823 monthly).

Rentals.ca says average asking rental rates are down year-over-year in Canada and have been for 12 of the last 13 months. The website says monthly rents for condos and apartments are down 18.1% year-over-year.

According to the rental website, Montreal finished 19th in all Canadian cities for average one-bedroom rental prices in February ($1,399) and 16th for two-bedroom spots ($1,875).

The rental website says the average monthly rate for Montreal condos and apartments was down 3% in February, compared to being up 37% at this time last year. Quebec City was down 14%, compared to being up 11% in February 2020.

Of the 35 Canadian cities studied, Quebec City came in 34th for February’s rent list, with one-bedroom homes averaging $873 and two-bedrooms averaging $1,044.

Vancouver remains the most expensive city for renters looking for one- and two-bedroom homes on the list at $1,891 and $2,568, respectively.

Since hitting a high of $1,954 in August 2019, the average monthly rental rate has steadily declined — now down $240 from the peak. Month over month, the average rent was unchanged, according to Rentals.ca’s and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s latest National Rent Report.

February’s 6% decline is the lowest annual decrease experienced in the past nine months. At the peak of the market in November 2019, average monthly rents were up by 9.4%.

Rentals.ca says monthly average rates in Canada “might have hit the bottom,” after the COVID-19 pandemic. Average rents for a single-family home, townhouse, and apartment properties all increased month over month, but that could be due to seasonal increases as opposed to a fundamental increase in demand above traditional levels.