Toronto-area condo rents dip for 1st time in 3 years: Urbanation

A new report says condo rents in Canada’s mostly densely populated region have dipped for the first time in three years.

The report from Urbanation Inc. says average condo rents on new leases in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area were down 1.2 per cent in the second quarter compared with last year.

It says rent for the April to June stretch averaged $3.97 per square foot, or $2,723 for a 686-square-foot apartment, down from $4.02 per square foot during the same time last year to mark the first decline since 2021.

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Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, says the slight pullback in rents is mainly due to a spike in condo completions but that the trend isn’t likely to last as new condo sales and starts have dropped off substantially.

For purpose-built rental apartments completed since 2000, rents rose 2.2 per cent from last year to an average of $4.08 per square foot, which included a 0.5 per cent dip in Toronto rents and a 7.7 per cent jump in the wider region.

Purpose-built rental apartment vacancies have climbed from 1.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 to 2.7 per cent last quarter, while rental apartment construction starts were up 43 per cent from last year.