GTA rents continued to trend up in March 2022, with Bullpen Research & Consulting and TorontoRentals.com reporting an increase of 10 per cent versus a year ago. Since the height of COVID-19 in August 2021, average GTA rents have been steadily rising – as have interest rates, which will likely keep some prospective buyers in the rental market for longer. Moving forward, analysts predict that new housing completions will rise, adding more supply throughout the year as persistent inflation keeps driving up the costs for landlords. As a result, rents are expected to continue to increase, but not at the same pace experienced in Q3 and Q4 of 2021.

“After very strong growth in the second half of 2021, average rental rates in the GTA have flattened out, with this trend consistent across property types, bedroom types and geographic areas,” said Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting. “[We] still expect rents to increase in 2022, but at a slower pace than previously forecasted.”

According to the report, a majority of the municipalities in the GTA had slight declines in average monthly rents for condo rentals and apartments. Toronto rents saw a month-over-month decline of 0.4 per cent; Mississauga had a monthly decline of 0.9 per cent; Etobicoke average monthly rents declined by 2.6 per cent; Scarborough experienced a monthly decline of 3.8 per cent and Brampton monthly rents were down 5.4 per cent.

The spring market should see increased tenant demand, and with condo premiums rising from 15 per cent to 35 per cent in the major municipalities, the high end of the rental market is strong again and that could pull up rents in the near future.

GTA rents in condos vs. apartments

In general, the price growth of condominiums has outpaced apartments over the past year. In Mississauga, the average rent for condos ($2,627) in the first quarter of 2022 was 34 per cent higher than the average rent for apartments ($1,955).

In Scarborough, the margin of rents for condos over apartments in the first quarter was 27 per cent; in Etobicoke, the difference was 26 per cent, and in Toronto where the condo premium is lower, the average rent for condos still outpaced the average rent for apartments by 15 per cent.

While condos consistently rent for higher prices than apartments because they are newer and typcially offer more amenities, this premium declined during the pandemic as demand for expensive prime condo projects close to employment plummeted. But rents for condos have risen again as employees return to downtown offices and their places of employment.

Unit sizes

Average rents for condominium rentals for studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units have risen significantly in March from January 2021.

Average monthly rent for three-bedroom condo rentals was $3,534 in March, up 30 per cent from $2,716 in January 2021. Average rent for a two-bedroom condo in March was $2,819, up from $2,440 in January 2021; average rent for a one-bedroom in March was $2,161, up from $1,869 in January 2021 and average rent for a studio went from $1,552 in January 2021 to $1,719 in March.

For apartments, two-bedroom units saw the most notable increase, where the average rent in March was $2,306, up 10 per cent from $2,098 in January 2021.

Other key takeaways from the report:

• The average rent for condo apartments was $2,480 per month in the first quarter of 2020, declining significantly over the next year by 17 per cent before increasing to $2,457 per month in the first quarter of this year. The average rent for single-family homes was $2,793 per month in the first quarter of 2020, before also experiencing a significant decline in the latter half of 2020 and the start of 2021 before rising 21 per cent to $2,980 per month in the first quarter of 2022.
• Listings for condo apartments on TorontoRentals.com are concentrated by the waterfront, the downtown core, and downtown west areas of Toronto, with other areas of high density north on Yonge Street to Eglinton. Available apartments are more dispersed, with areas of high density slightly to the east of the downtown core in the St. Jamestown area as well as to the west in the Parkdale area.
• Average rents per-square-foot for 14 new condominium projects in Scarborough so far this year have surpassed pre-pandemic levels at $3.15, which is 4.3 per cent higher than 2019, and up 10 per cent over 2021.

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