A new report on rental prices across the country is out, and as usual, it’s not looking great for Toronto. The May 2023 rent report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation found that rental prices reached an average of $2,822 in Toronto last month — a 41 per cent hike since April 2021.
The city also has the second-highest rental prices in Canada, behind Vancouver — the average price of a one-bedroom is now at $2,526 and the average price of a two-bedroom is at $3,290.
Toronto also earned the title of the city with the second-fastest annual rent growth among the country’s largest markets, at 21.2 per cent, trailing behind Calgary at 22.9 per cent. And three “mid-sized” markets in the GTA reported higher annual rent growth than even Toronto; Scarborough, Brampton and Markham all saw over 30 per cent annual rent growth, with average rents at $2,543, $2,567 and $2,554, respectively.
Oakville saw the highest average rent among mid-sized markets, and Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton, North York, Markham, Scarborough, Burlington and Vaughan took spots five to 12.
So it’s no surprise that Ontario had the fastest annual rent growth among the provinces, with average asking rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments increasing 16.7 per cent to $2,421 year-over-year. Since April 2021, Ontario also reported the largest rent growth — 29 per cent compared to British Columbia’s 28 per cent.
“Going forward, the annual rate of rent growth should remain elevated due to record high population growth and low home ownership affordability,” the report noted.
The news comes at a time when Toronto’s real estate market seems to be rebounding, with demand and competition to buy a home on the rise and the city seeing escalating home prices after a year of uncertainty.
