toronto condo rent

Toronto condo rents are now at their highest level ever

Renting a condo in Toronto has never been cheap, but never in recorded history has it been so expensive as right now — if you can even manage to find a place, that is.

The average monthly rent for condo leases signed across the GTA over the past three months skyrocketed by 11.2 per cent, year over year, according to condominium market analysis firm Urbanation, reaching an average of $2,302 per 732 square-foot.

In the former City of Toronto itself, that number is even higher at $2,505 (or $3.61 per square foot) — a 13.5 per cent increase over last year at the same time.

"The $231 average increase over the past year was the largest ever recorded by Urbanation, with rents having risen by $367 in two years," reads a report from the firm, which has been tracking condo data in Toronto since 1981.

To put this in perspective, the average studio apartment — which means no bedroom — is currently going for around $1,720 per month. A one bedroom without den will run you about $2,000, but, again, that's only if you can find one to rent.

"Current rental supply has fallen to a critically low level," said Urbanation  president Shaun Hildebrand in a release this week.

"Demand has been pouring into the market while rental construction still remains relatively low, condo projects are taking longer to reach completion, not as many investors are offering their units for rent, and tenants aren't moving as often."

This "exceptionally tight" condo rental market is great for landlords with open units, but for condominium renters — who make up an estimated third of the region's total rental population — it means fierce competition to spend more money for less space.

Fortunately, relief is coming in the form of tens of thousands of new, purpose-built rental units (many of which are already under construction.)

New applications for buildings between April and June of 2018 alone would see 5,920 units added into the mix — nearly 3.5 times more than the number of purpose-built units proposed last year at this time.

"As of Q2-2018, the inventory of proposed purpose-built rentals totaled 120 projects and 37,403 units," reads the Urbanation report, "nearly doubling in size over the past two years to reach the highest level recorded by Urbanation since tracking began in Q1-2015."

As for when those units will actually hit the market, well... you can see all the cranes. Hang tight. They're coming.

Lead photo by

Dan Phillips


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