Needless to say, the Toronto rental market is not for the faint of heart. A would-be renter must steel themselves and take an aggressive stance when they finally find that perfect dwelling, then pay handsomely for it. Got Pets? Good luck.
It’s not uncommon to see anywhere from ten to thirty prospective renters attend a rental open house. If you arrive unprepared with a rental applicaiton, credit check, employment letter, etc., there’s little chance you’d win the property.
But, the tide might be turning, if only a little. The Toronto Real Estate Board reported a 30.1 per cent increase in the number of rental listings In the third-quarter of 2019, compared to Q3 2018, however actual transactions (completed deals) was only at a 17.3 per cent increase. Out of the 16,407 available properties to rent on Toronto’s MLS, 10,800 were actually leased in Q.3 of this year. This could be an early indicator that the rental market has become better supplied and with potential for a more balanced market.
Average condominium apartment rents are still up based on a year-over-year average across all unit types.
A typical one-bedroom condo rented for $2,262 in Q3 2019, up 4.5% compared to Q3 2018. A typical two-bedroom condominium apartment also rose by the 4.2 per cent, at $2,941. That’s double Toronto’s inflation rate of 1.9 per cent.
One of the driving forces behind this growth is immigration. The annual immigration rate has been set at 300,000 per year with 56 per cent of newcomers living in and around Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. These city centres are already home to just over one-third of all Canadians. With this level of population growth, there will be no shortage of would-be renters in the near future.
Despite these factors and a very tight rental market today, renters may benefit from more choice in the market place as more condomimum completions come on the market over the next tweleve months.
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