A new report from liv.rent explores the pandemic’s impact on the cost of rent in specific GTA neighbourhoods, providing a breakdown of the changes observed in Downtown Toronto, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, Markham, Mississauga, Brampton, and Vaughan/Richmond Hill since a year ago.
According to the new data, rent for furnished units in Downtown Toronto dropped 25 per cent, and 18 per cent for unfurnished units. The biggest percentage drop in rental prices in Toronto was for three-bedroom apartments, declining on average 14.9 per cent for furnished and 13.9 per cent for unfurnished units.
Of the GTA neighbourhoods listed, Etobicoke was the only one that saw any kind of rent increase for Q1 2021 — up 0.3 per cent for furnished one-bedrooms — but down 8.8 per cent overall. North York, meanwhile, averaged an 11.8 per cent decline across all units types.
Even GTA neighbourhoods historically considered “affordable” were not immune to a drastic drop in rental prices: in Brampton, where the average rent is $555 less than in Downtown Toronto, rent declined by 15 per cent from Q1 2020. The largest drop seen in Brampton was for two-bedroom units, with unfurnished apartments garnering 19.4 per cent less than a year ago.
Vancouver: most expensive city for rent
Additional data shows that Toronto is no longer Canada’s most expensive city when it comes to rental housing: Vancouver has eclipsed Toronto for Q1 2021 with rent averaging $1,783. Across Canada, Vancouver rental prices appeared to be the least affected by COVID-19 and had the lowest percentage drop in overall rental prices from Q1 2020 versus Q1 2021.
Liv.rent methodology
The liv.rent methodology combines outside data from popular listing sites with its own extensive proprietary data. Through the process of excluding duplicate postings, luxury rentals, and rooms and by ascertaining up-to-date asking rents, liv.rent strives to create “the most accurate monthly rent report” in Canada.
The next quarterly report from liv.rent will provide more insights into the changes COVID-19 had on Toronto neighbourhoods by comparing Q2 2020 data to what we’re seeing now in Q2 2021.
Visit https://landing.liv.rent/to-rentreport/ for the full report.
