Rent in Toronto is on the decline for the third month in a row: report

National Rent Rankings for April 2024 (Rentals.ca)

The average price of rent in Toronto has declined for the third month in a row, according to a recent report by rentals.ca.

According to the April report, the average asking price for a Toronto rental apartment decreased in April and is now down 0.7 per cent month-over-month to an average $2,782.

The slowdown began in Oct. 2023 – the first time that the Toronto rental market lowered in cost since August 2021.

However, Toronto remains among one of the most expensive cities in Canada to live in for renters, ranking third below British Columbia cities Burnaby and Vancouver.

The report states that the average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto is $2,489 a month, whereas a two-bedroom apartment will cost an average of $3,270, with a three-bedroom unit priced at $3,728 on average.

The decrease is in-part due to condominium apartment construction, with the report stating that completion reached a “record high” in February and March 2024.

In Vancouver, where rental units are the most expensive in Canada, one-bedroom apartments are currently costing tenants an average of $2,657 a month.

Burnaby is second on the list, with the average cost of one-bedroom apartments at $2,550.

The rentals.ca report includes 14 cities in Ontario on its 25 most expensive cities list, and six of those are in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Nationwide, the asking rent in Canada increased by 8.8 per cent from the same time last year for $2,181. Since March 2020, the official start of the COVID-19 pandemic, rentals.ca found that rental costs across the country has increased by 21 per cent, or just over five per cent annually.