According to the latest monthly rental report from Rentals.ca, the average 1-bedroom apartment in Toronto has surpassed the $2300 threshold, pushing slightly past the mark set in January (for December), and now going for $2315 per month.
READ: Toronto Neighbourhoods with the Most Affordable Rent Right Now
What's more, the year-over-year change in median rent for Toronto apartments is 22% between January 2019 to January 2020 -- the fourth-highest year-over-year growth in the country behind just Montreal (38%), London (36%), and Winnipeg (23%).
In fact, nine of the top ten most expensive cities to rent a 1-bedroom apartment in Canada are all located in the GTA, with Mississauga's 19% median growth rate leading the way behind Toronto:
Rentals.ca
It should come as no surprise then that the majority of the most popular municipalities on Rentals.ca in the past year are also located in the GTA, with Toronto proper coming out on top.
Ontario as a whole continues to outpace other provinces, with an average rental rate for 1-bedrooms at $2,290 in January. This marks a 6% year-over-year growth for the province. While most provinces saw year-over-year growth, both Alberta (-3%) and Saskatchewan (-11%) posted declines. Average rents nationally, across all property types, are up just 1.3% year-over-year.
As to what's driving rental locations, Rentals.ca partner Local Logic provided insights for renters' lifestyle interests and found many millennial families want more than anything to live near a quality school.
“As more families continue to rent as opposed to buy, we see renters for larger homes are willing to sacrifice their ability to take transit or walk to get their groceries in favour of being near a quality school,” said Vincent-Charles Hodder, CEO of Local Logic. “We expect the rental markets to perform strong in areas close to schools in 2020.”
Hopefully, the rising rent will be curbed by Toronto's current rental construction boom, the biggest in more than 50 years for the city. Though, earlier 2020 forecasts suggest average rent could rise as much as 7% in Toronto this year.
