The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) reported 9,635 condominium apartment rental transactions through the MLS System in the third quarter of 2015, which is a 22.6-per-cent increase over the same period last year. This number is only slightly greater than the annual increase in the number of units listed for rent.

One-bedroom and two-bedroom units made up about 95 per cent of condo rentals. The number of one-bedroom apartments rented increased by 24.7 per cent over the same period in 2014, while the number of two-bedroom apartments was up by 18 per cent.

“Investor-owned condominium apartments remained a very popular option in the third quarter and, indeed, over the past year as well,” said TREB President Mark McLean in a press release. “Strong growth in rental listings were matched by strong growth in rental transactions. This tells us that there are a lot of households looking to rent in the Greater Toronto Area and that many of these renters are choosing units in recently completed condominium apartment projects.”

The average rent for a one-bedroom condo apartment jumped 1.9 per cent to $1,657, while the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment increased 2.2 per cent to $2,241 over last year, outpacing the annual rate of inflation in the third quarter.

“There was enough competition between renters in the third quarter to prompt moderate growth in average rents,” said Jason Mercer, TREB director of market analysis, in a press release. “Furthermore, rental market conditions through the first three quarters of 2015 suggest that condo rental vacancy rates have remained low from a historic perspective. With this in mind, it is reasonable to assume that positive average rent growth will be sustained through the end of the year and into 2016.”