Condos are consistently the most affordable housing type in Toronto, but rent for those same properties has skyrocketed over the last year.
According to the latest data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the average one bedroom condo apartment in the city cost $2,503 per month in Q4 2022, a 19% annual increase. The average rent for a two bedroom jumped 14.1% year over year, to $3,178.
Meanwhile, the average sale price of a Toronto condo declined ever so slightly, reaching $738,398 in Q4.
With "strong rent increases" expected to persist for the foreseeable future and sale prices holding steady, it's reasonable to wonder how the cost of renting a condo compares to the price of a down payment.
Using TRREB figures, Zoocasa compared the average condo rent and sale price in 35 neighbourhoods across Toronto. The real estate agency determined the minimum down payment required for each area, and the equivalent number of months of rent.
In eight of the 35 neighbourhoods analyzed, the minimum down payment required for a condo is less than a year's worth of rent.
At less than $26K, the minimum down payment required in West Hill/Centennial Scarborough and Rexdale-Kipling/West Humber-Claireville is equivalent to just over 10 months of rent.
Approximately $30K is required for a down payment in Yorkdale-Glen Park/Weston and Leaside/Thorncliffe Park/Flemingdon Park, the same cost as roughly 12 months of rent.
In Toronto's core -- Downtown/Entertainment District/CityPlace/Liberty Village -- the $55K minimum down payment equals 18.7 months of rent.
There are four neighbourhoods, though, where you'd need to save several years worth of rent to amass the funds required for a down payment on a condo.
At $268K, the minimum down payment required for a condo in the Yorkville/Annex/Summerhill area is equivalent to nearly six years of rent. The down payment needed for a condo in York Mills, Bridle Path, Hoggs Hollow ($348K) or Bedford Park-Nortown/Lawrence Park/Forest Hill North ($247K), is equivalent to seven and a half years of rent.
While condo rents are high in the aforementioned neighbourhoods, it's the exorbitant sale prices, and therefore higher minimum down payments, that drive up the monthly equivalencies.
For example, the average condo rent in Rosedale/Moore Park is $3,591 -- higher than Bedford Park's $2,722 -- but only $68K is required for a down payment, the equivalent of 19.2 months of rent.
While you only need about $35K for a down payment on a condo in East York/Danforth Village, the figure is equivalent to 18.8 months of rent, as the neighbourhood has a the lowest average condo rent in Toronto, at $1,877.
Zoocasa
