Toronto rental prices down for seventh straight month: report

Jul 27 2020, 9:16 pm

The Greater Toronto Area’s monthly rental prices continue to decline, as a new report charts the downward trend over the past seven months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its Toronto GTA July Rent Report 2020, Torontorental.com shows that once again rental prices in one of the nation’s most expensive cities has declined. According to the report, monthly rent in the GTA declined for the seventh straight month in June to $2,129,

This accounts for rent dropping an average of 1.7% monthly and 7.3% annually.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to put downward pressure on the rental market in the GTA, as job loss, economic uncertainty, and fear of moving for health reasons have severely reduced demand,” the company wrote in a release.

Average rent for all property types (singles, semis, row, condo apartment, rental apartment, and basement apartment) for most of the GTA was down in May and June of this year versus the same time last year.

In June 2020, average monthly rental prices were down in North York and Markham (11%), Mississauga (10%), the former City of Toronto and York (8%), Etobicoke and East York (4%), and Vaughan and Brampton (1%).

Scarborough saw its average rental costs rise by 1% compared to the same period in 2019.

Despite the move down across the region, things aren’t fully swinging in favour of Toronto’s renters just yet, as an average decrease doesn’t translate to lower rental prices across the board.

“The rental market in the GTA continues to soften, but the average rent for rental apartments increased month over month,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting, in the release.

The same report found that rental apartment lease rates grew month over month in the GTA from $1,922 to $2,047, an increase of 6.5%.

The year started with average monthly rent up by 15% year over year in January but fell by -4% in May. A “bounce” in rents in June has brought apartments above the month’s 2019 level by 1.7%.

Torontorentals.com

Condo apartments did not experience the same trend, and the report says rents declined 1.4% monthly and 8.7% annually — more than a full percent over the GTA’s average.

“When evaluating the movements in the ownership or rental markets, there is always a focus on average and median rent levels. However, these measures don’t always tell the full story because of the sample used to gauge those movements,” the report says, adding that everything from the layout to improvements to common spaces can impact the cost.

Overall, across the GTA, the report shows that rentals prices are down; just how much those declines will help struggling tenants remains to be seen.

Peter SmithPeter Smith

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