Growth of Toronto rental costs slows to lowest rate in years: report

The growing rate of rental costs in Toronto is beginning to slow, according to a new Rentals.ca report.

The average asking prices for a rental unit in Toronto was only up 2.3 per cent year-over-year in September, according to data collected by the agency's Network of Internet Listings Services (ILS). This marks the slowest rate of growth for rental prices in the city in two years, the agency says.

Last September rent asking prices were up 8.7 per cent from the previous year.

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“While rent increases remained exceptionally strong in most major markets during September, the annual rate of rent growth slowed substantially in Toronto last month,” the report reads, suggesting that the trend could signal future relief from a long-growing rate of rent inflation in the city.

If relief is on the horizon, it hasn’t arrived yet. On a month-over-month basis, rent in Toronto went largely unchanged. For all types of rentals, residents in Toronto are paying an average of $2,902 a month, an increase of 0.1 percent over September.

Compared to Canada's other rental markets, Toronto ranked the third most expensive, surpassed in costs only by Vancouver and Burnaby, B.C., both in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Of the Ontario municipalities, besides Toronto, that made the list of most expensive apartment and condo rental markets in Canada, all were still within the Greater Toronto Area, including Oakville ($2,960), Brampton ($2,704), Vaughan ($2,697), Mississauga ($2,687), Etobicoke ($2,634), and North York ($2,629).

As for the rental costs of shared accommodations, Toronto is ranked the second most expensive city in the country. Those living with roommates are paying an average of $1,308 a month. Vancouver tops that list, where shared accommodations are costing an average of $1,590 a month.

"As renters look to save on costs by obtaining roommates and property owners try to mitigate soaring mortgage payments by offering up space for rent, the volume of listings for shared accommodations [in Canada] over the past three months has grown 27 per cent compared to last year," the report reads. Ontario's volume of shared accommodation listings experienced a 78 per cent increase in the same timeframe, it states.