Photo: James Bombales
Toronto once again has the most expensive rent in the country for a one-bedroom apartment, as the average rent spiked 3.6 per cent in April to $2,040.
The cost for a two-bedroom apartment climbed even higher, rising 4.8 per cent to $2,620, according to the latest monthly rental report from PadMapper.
The city is neck-and-neck with Vancouver , which saw rent grow 0.5 per cent to $2,010 for one-bedrooms, and 1.6 per cent to a whopping $3,200 for two-bedrooms.
“Toronto and Vancouver continued their tug of war for first place with Toronto coming out on top…with a larger one bedroom rent spike,” reads the report. “Notably, rent for both bedroom types is up around 15 per cent since this time last year.”
Industry watchers have been pointing to the Ontario government’s rent control provisions as part of the problem. According to Toronto Real Estate Board president Tim Syrianos, high rents are caused by a lack of rental supply, which rent control will do nothing to fix.
“The problem is that rental supply has not kept up with an increase in demand in recent years,” he writes, in a statement. “Looking forward, [TREB] continues to have concerns that rent control legislation announced in conjunction with the Ontario Fair Housing Plan, will preclude additional rental supply coming on stream, both in the purpose built and investor-held condo apartment segments.”
Rising rent was the trend across Canada this month. Fifteen of the local market markets surveyed by PadMapper saw rent increases, while 6 remained flat and only 5 fell.
Another market seeing a serious boost in rent? Barrie saw a 4.7 per cent spike to $1,330 for a one bedroom apartment, placing it in fourth place. It’s the latest indication that the city’s real estate market is set to take off this year. A report from the Real Estate Investment Network named it a top housing market to watch, as a key part of the Ontario government’s growth plan.
