Bad news for Toronto tenants: rent is only getting more expensive.
For the fourth month in a row, the 6ix topped a monthly National Rent Report by Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research & Consulting. The April 2019 report was based on March numbers and found that a one-bedroom unit in Toronto increased by 0.9 per cent last month, while a two-bedroom unit jumped by 2.8 per cent.
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Torontonians looking for a one bedroom or two bedroom home can now expect to pay $2,254 and $2,724, respectively.
Etobicoke and Vancouver came in second and third place for highest rent in Canada. In March, a one bedroom in the Ontario city cost $1,941, while it cost $1,927 in the West Coast city.
The top 10 cities with the highest rent were all in either Ontario or B.C., according to the report. This makes sense considering those two provinces have the most expensive rates in the country.
The average asking rent in Ontario, across all property types (studio to five beds), was $2,162 in March. Despite the high cost, this is actually a decrease of 1.6 per cent from February’s monthly average of $2,197.
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In B.C., the average asking price for rentals last month was $1,611, which is an increase of 1.8 per cent month-over-month. Alberta also saw a slight rise in rent since February, jumping a mere one per cent to $1,303 on average.
“I don’t expect rents to grow as quickly in the second quarter as they did in the first, but further housing market interventions are not off the table, especially as they relate to alternative or subprime lenders,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. “A move to further tighten credit could send another flood of tenants into the already tight rental market.”
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Despite rising rents in many provinces, the average monthly cost in Canada actually declined slightly in March after rising for the past three months, the report found. Properties across the country had an average asking rent of $1,864 in March compared to $1,888 in February.
Notably, only four of the 30 cities ranked in the National Rent Report had average March rents below $1,000 for a one bedroom: London ($935), Lethbridge ($863), Quebec City ($839) and Windsor ($837).
