Toronto rental prices climb in June, as stretched home sellers re-enter the market

Rent continues to climb across the GTA, according to a new report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, with an almost 16 per cent annual jump in Toronto for condos and apartments in June.

The average asking rent for a one-bedroom in the city — including listings for everything from basement units to new luxury builds — is now a whopping $2,572, and more than $3,000 for a two-bedroom. Toronto has the third highest rents of any city in the country, after Vancouver and Burnaby, B.C. Mississauga sits in fourth place at $2,362 for a one-bedroom.

Rentals.ca data analyst David Aizikov said the summer is “peak leasing season,” meaning there are more people looking and more competition. Higher interest rates can also contribute to an increase in rental costs as landlords look to offset rising mortgage payments.

People that are being priced out of the housing market and those that can’t afford to live in their homes anymore, “are now being driven to the rental market,” he said.

“That in itself creates further competition and in an imbalanced housing market like we see now, more competition only further imbalances the supply and demand.”

There is also “a greater number of single family homes being listed for rent,” with many of these landlords charging “more premium rents” because they are trying to cover off a mortgage.

Even splitting costs and sharing a space with someone else, traditionally a cheaper option, will cost you more. Average “roommate rent,” defined as shared listings, is now at $1,288 a month in the city. Aizikov said they are seeing more of these listings, and even more homeowners who are putting rooms in their homes up for rent.

When it comes to purpose-built and condo apartments specifically, Oakville was actually more expensive than Toronto at $3,230 a month in June.

Several other GTA municipalities also saw big rental growth in June for condos and purpose-built apartments, including in Brampton, where the cost of an average place was up 25.8 per cent annually to $2,620; Markham, up 20.6 per cent to $2,669; and Burlington, up 14.7 per cent to $2,561.

North York was also up 21.4 per cent year-over-year to $2,612 in June; Scarborough was up 27.8 per cent to $2,511 and Etobicoke up 14.2 per cent to $2,630.

“As Toronto has gotten more and more expensive you have renters slowly going further and further afield,” Aizikov said.

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