Competition for Toronto condo and apartment rentals has increased and rents for 1 bedrooms have gone up by over 20% in the 3rd quarter of 2022 compared to last year in the same time period. The average one-bedroom condominium apartment rent in Toronto in Q3 2022 was up by 20.4 per cent year-over-year to $2,481. The average two-bedroom apartment rent, at 3,184 was up by 14.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2021.
Rental supply is still not meeting the demand! Many would-be Buyers are choosing to rent because housing prices are so high and mortgage rates unaffordable for the average person. “Rental housing is an increasingly important piece of the housing puzzle. While investor owned condo units have been an important source of supply, current tight market conditions and double-digit average rent growth point to the need for additional purposebuilt stock, the construction of which has been lacking in recent years,” said TRREB’s Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
There is a lack of housing and apartments in the region and not enough is being built to keep up with demand. Post pandemic trends are adding to the high demand for rentals, and workers moving back into the city cores due to back to in office requirements from employers and colleges and Universities. “Immigration into the GTA plus non-permanent migration for school and temporary employment have all picked up markedly.... Investor-owned condos have been an important component of the rental stock for more then a decade. However, the decline in rental listings over the past year are a further warning sign to policymakers that the overall lack of housing in the region extends to the rental market as well,” said TRREB President Kevin Crigger.