After stumbling for months, it looks like apartment rents in Kelowna may have bottomed out. 

The latest numbers show the median monthly rent for a typical one-bedroom apartment in the city in February was $1,700.

That's up $10 from the lowest point it had been in years — $1,690 in January.

The monthly marker had been tumbling rapidly since a record-high $2,010 was set in August 2025.

Photo credit: ZumperKelowna's had a construction boom of six-storey apartment buildings the past couple of years.

Kelowna's era of rent deflation has been well documented.

In 2023, the city had a super-tight rental vacancy rate of 1.3%, which means during any given month only 1.3 of every 100 apartments were available to rent.

Such a scenario meant people scrambled for apartments and landlords could charge ever higher rents because of the supply-and-demand dynamic.

The federal, provincial and municipal governments decided to do something about it and started offering tax breaks, density bonuses and fast approvals.

The result was a construction boom of 6-storey apartment buildings in Kelowna and a vacancy rate that climbed to 6.8%.

New apartments flooded the market, causing a glut that pushed rents down from the aforementioned record of $2,010 to $1,690 in five months — a 16% plunge.

On top of that, developers and landlords started offering one and two months free rent deals, free parking, free wifi and move-in bonuses of up to $1,000 in an effort to fill empty suites.

The program worked.

The supply of apartments in Kelowna skyrocketed and rents came down, making them affordable to a new sector of the population — the fence sitters who had roommates but would have preferred their own place, and those living with parents, just waiting to move out.

Photo credit: ZumperApartment rents in Kelowna may have hit bottom.

Monthly rent inching up in February may be an indication that the glut of apartments is being absorbed and landlords feel they can ask and get more.

But, one month does not a trend make.

We'll have to see what happens to rents over the next few months in order to clearly see a trend, whether it be up or down or a plateau.

It's Zumper, the online platform that lists apartments for rent, that generates the monthly Canadian Rent Report.

It provided the one-bed rents for Kelowna as well as documented what's happening with two-beds.

In February, the median monthly rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna was $2,100, a slip from $2,150 in January.

So, it is not following the inch-up movement of one-beds.

Two-bed rent peaked at $2,700 a month in September 2023.

The February numbers make Kelowna the 12th most expensive city in Canada to rent an apartment.

Even if you aren't in the rental market, what's happening with apartments is an indicator of othe overall housing market and the economy.

What it's saying is the housing market is uncertain with sales of homes of all kinds — condominiums, townhouses and single-family houses — sluggish, yet prices remain relatively high.

New home construction in Kelowna has come almost to a standstill as high construction costs and hefty government taxes and fees don't give developers the confidence to start new projects and potential buyers don't have the confidence or money to purchase a new home.

The five most expensive cities to rent an apartment in the country are Vancouver with a one-bed median of $2,390 a month and two-bed $3,280, Burnaby at $2,200 and $2,780, Halifax with $2,170 and $2.530, Toronto at $2,140 and $2,710 and Kingston with $2,000 and $2,530.

The five cheapest cities are Regina at $1,250 and $1,470, Quebec City with $1,270 and $1,750, Edmonton at $1,280 and $1,560, Saskatoon with $1,320 and $1,600 and Windsor at $1,350 and $1,590.

_{Thumbnail photos from Zumper}