Exploring the latest in the Toronto Rental Market from Fall 2015 shows little change in vacancies rates, with an increase in rentals. Demand for rental accommodation remained consistent, with vacancy rates remaining at 1.6 percent, and availability rates remaining at 3.0 percent.
As the cost to purchase a home in the Toronto market continues to increase significantly, the market has showed that many residents are delaying the prospect of homeownership and remaining in a rental property for longer.
As the market has shown in previous years, condominiums are where the rental market has seen the highest amount of growth throughout Toronto, pushing the vacancy rate to 1.8 percent from 1.3 percent last year. Even despite the significant growth in the supply of units, the overall demand of condos continues to remain strong.
Significant amount of students moving into the city for school has helped uphold the rental demand in the downtown area, specifically. Additionally, the downtown area has accounted for much of the city’s job growth over the last few years. With this combination of the student population and downtown employment, there has been a natural growth in demand for private rental accommodation with close proximity to both work and school.
With consistent and increased areas of demand for rental spaces, the average rental rates have naturally seen an increase. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment increased by 3.3 percent in 2015 in the GTA, up from 2.7 in 2014.
With the additional increase of millennials looking to make their first move away from home, they too have kept the rental demand strong as they represent about 30 percent of the GTA population. But even aside from millennials, elder populations and young professionals who are looking for quality rental accommodation appears to be on the rise.
Even as the idea of home ownership is drifting further from reality for many, people are still looking for quality rental accommodations. As a result, newer purpose-built rental properties are increasingly competing with the condominium market. The vacancy rate in 2015 for primary rental units commanding rents over $1,200 remained above the market average, suggesting that some rental households were using increased incomes to enter the condominium market instead.
So overall, the Toronto rental market has continued to remain strong and steady. With the ever-growing housing prices, demand for rental accommodation continues to see growth particularly within the downtown area. With these growing trends, there’s no sign of the rental market slowing down anytime soon.
Medallion Capital Group is committed to providing expert advice to landlords and developers about the Toronto real estate market, with a particular emphasis on residential real estate, single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, condominiums, and apartment complexes. Contact our highly skilled and professional trained staff if you’d like to know more!