Results of 2016 rental housing survey released by the Urban Growth and Change research group at the University of Waterloo

Dr. Dawn Parker (dcparker@uwaterloo.ca) and Xinyue Pi, MES (xinyue.pi@uwaterloo.ca)

Executive summary

Xinyue Pi’s thesis “Exploring Rental Housing Markets in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario” is now
published and available for download at https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/12431 .
Xinyue Pi completed her Master’s in Environmental Studies in the School of Planning under the
supervision of Professor Dawn Cassandra Parker. Dr. Xiongbing Jin served as committee
member and Professor Kevin Curtis as external reader. From June to November 2016, we
mailed invitations to a random sample of 2912 households renting in Kitchener and Waterloo
to participate in a survey on residential location choice, renting experience and behaviours and
perceptions towards the upcoming LRT, after which a total of 290 survey responses were
analyzed. After a descriptive statistical analysis of the survey results, a multivariate hedonic
statistical model was also developed to investigate the relationship between rental housing prices
and corresponding household, residential, neighbourhood and behaviour characteristics. Such
models statistically distill the independent influences of renter household, dwelling, and
neighbourhood characteristics on rent. Chapter 8 of the thesis summarizes the main findings
and discusses policy implications. We highlight some of the most interesting results of our study
here.