Toronto's runaway rental prices just increased for the sixth consecutive month

The monthly cost of a rental unit in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has been on a steady ascent since bottoming out during the pandemic, and the price to lease a unit in Canada's largest metropolitan area has now increased for six consecutive months.

The September 2022 Toronto Rent Report from liv.rent reveals that September marks a half-year of consecutive monthly rental price increases for unfurnished, one-bedroom units in the GTA.

It will now cost an average of over $2,000 to rent an unfurnished one-bedroom in the region for the first time this year, with the new September average of $2,010 marking a $31 increase over the previous month.

The same unit type was averaging a monthly cost of $1,945 back in June in Toronto, a $65 per month increase over the course of the summer.

Rental rates are — as one would expect — highest in the city centre, with unfurnished one-bedroom units going for an average of $2,375. At the other end of the scale, Brampton saw the lowest rents for unfurnished one-bedrooms, at $1,697.

That's a $678 monthly difference between the GTA's most expensive and cheapest rental markets.

Suburban rental markets are averaging cheaper than their urban counterparts, but extreme rental price growth is occurring in areas like Markham, which saw a shocking 35.21 per cent leap in unfurnished one-bedroom rental prices since August, rising to $1,990.

Experts have attributed the skyrocketing rental rates across the region to changing work patterns and a return to pre-pandemic conditions placing strain on urban rental supply.

Based on our predictions, GTA will continue to climb throughout the remainder of 2022. Read more: https://t.co/BURN5uwOFq#TorontoRealEstate #RentalResources pic.twitter.com/w4kznEYr3X

— liv.rent (@liv_rent) August 23, 2022

Workers are returning to in-office settings, a reversal of the urban exodus Toronto experienced in 2020 and 2021. Following the rules of supply and demand, the sudden uptick in demand for rentals in the city means you can expect rental prices to continue on their upward trajectory.