Prices for one-bedroom rentals in Toronto fell for the seventh consecutive month in September.
Prices dropped below the $2,000-mark to $1,967, a 2.2 percent decrease month-to-month and a 14.9 percent annual decline.
The new data published this week in the September national rent report by Rentals.ca marked a continuation of the downward trend in rental prices across Canada’s largest city.
Compared to other Canadian cities analysed in the report, Toronto ranked as the city with the sharpest overall drop in average rental apartment and condominium apartment prices. Looking at all rental units covered in Rentals.ca’s data, Toronto saw average rent prices dip 14.1 percent annually to $2,185.
The shutdown of office towers, declining demand for short-term rentals and fewer students attending classes on university and college campuses were cited as the leading factors causing the sustained price drops seen in the city.
“Toronto is seeing the biggest decline in rental and condo apartment rental rates on average among major municipalities in Canada; this is driven by the rapid decline in downtown condo rents, with many recently completed buildings seeing rates drop by 10 percent to 15 percent annually,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting, in the report’s press release.
“Several of the condos experienced listings growth of 100 per cent to 200 percent annually — a textbook example of what happens with less demand and more supply,” he added.
Despite sharp price cuts, at $1,967, Toronto continued to rank as the most expensive city for one-bedroom rentals, followed by Vancouver and Mississauga at $1,941 and $1,932, respectively.
Toronto’s two-bedroom rentals saw a 3.3 percent decrease in prices on a monthly basis, dropping to $2,569. However, the city’s two-bedroom units experienced a slightly milder decline in annual prices compared to one-bedroom properties, dipping 12 percent year-over-year.
Toronto had the third-most expensive rental rates for two-bedroom units in the country, topped by Vancouver and Kanata at $2,712 and $2,692 a month, respectively.
