If you were to ask us at the start of the year if we could predict what might happen to rents in Toronto, we definitely wouldn't have predicted that rent prices would continually drop month after month.
The recently released National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research & Consulting revealed that in August, the average rent for all property types listed on Rentals.ca in the country was $1,769, down $2 from July’s $1,771 and $1 from June’s $1,700. The average monthly rate across the country in August was down 7.6% annually.
The report also revealed that the average monthly price of a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto now sits at $2,013 -- down 1.3% from the month previous and a staggering 13.8% year-over-year. What's more, rent for two-bedrooms fell 8.9% over the past year, while actually increasing month-over-month by about 1.2% to reach an average of $2,655.
“The average rent for all property types in Canada remains flat, but rental rates for the most expensive central properties in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal continue to decline,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting.
READ: 17 Toronto Condo Launches You Need to Know About This Fall (MAP)
While the news of declining rent prices in Toronto is something to get excited about for many renters, our fine city still remains the most expensive city in the country to rent a one-bedroom rental unit, while Vancouver still remains the priciest city to rent two-bedroom units at an average price of $2,709 per month.
On a provincial level, Ontario had the highest rental rates in August 2020, with landlords seeking $2,071 per month on average (all property types); this is down 10.8% annually. The average rent in August is up $2 over July 2020. British Columbia had the second-highest rental rate at $2,001 per month, up 5.7% year over year, but down monthly by $28 or 1.4%.
In contrast to those provinces, Quebec is seeing huge rent growth, with the average rent of $1,656 up 15.3% annually, but the average rent in August was down $4 from July 2020.
Rentals.ca September 2020 Rent Report
"There are a number of factors pushing down rent in Toronto: newly completed condo supply, the return of short-term rentals to the long-term market, less immigration, fewer students downtown, lower job growth, lower demand in centrally located buildings, and the working from home phenomenon has allowed some tenants to move to cheaper areas of the GTA and the province," reads this month's National Rent Report.
You can read the full national rent report here.
