Toronto rents fell 5.5 per cent in April

Downtown landlords asked $130 less, with rent costing $2,373 a month on average

There is more research suggesting that COVID-19 is providing rent relief for tenants who need or want to move during the pandemic.

New data released Monday shows that Toronto rents fell 5.5 per cent on average in April compared to the first quarter of the year, with declines in suburban areas as well as downtown, although the more expensive core continues to see the biggest monthly dollar drop.

GTA communities in the 905 municipalities saw an average $53 per month drop between March and April when the asking rent fell to $2,154 on average, according to the study by Bullpen Consulting for Rentals.ca, a national rental listing site. This included all types of rentals — houses, townhouses, condos and apartments.

Downtown landlords were asking $130 a month less per month in April than March — $2,373 on average.

In the former City of Toronto, an area that does not include North York, Etobicoke or Scarborough, rents fell $121 to an average asking price of $2,362 per month across all rental types.

On a rent per square foot basis, condo rent prices in North York and Etobicoke remained higher year-over-year but fell about 3 per cent from the first quarter.

The research shows that Toronto landlords were asking 11.2 per cent less in April than March for purpose-built

apartments. Condo landlords were also asking 4.2 per cent less in the same period.

In addition to the widespread social distancing that is causing many tenants to stay put, the pandemic has prompted students to abandon their living arrangements near big downtown campuses, including the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, researcher Ben Myers said.

It has also halted immigration and tourism that typically feed the rental market. Some shortterm rental operators have put their units on the long-term market.

“Many investors have been forced to reduce their asking rents to attract renters to move at this time,” he said.

Three-bedroom units saw the biggest rent drop, possibly because those are the most expensive, Myers said.

Downtown condos also tend to be more expensive than suburban locations, but there is more supply downtown that could be causing competition among landlords. Sometimes it just comes down to individual landlords, said Myers. Some will offer discounts and others will offer incentives.

“The vacancy rates have been low in some municipalities so some landlords are not willing to lower it, especially if it’s a rent-controlled unit because the turnover rate is so low in the

GTA. You lock in someone at a lower rate and they stay for five or10 years, you may be better to wait with no one in the unit than drop your rent and lock in that rent for the long term,” he said.

Myers said he doesn’t expect rents to continuing dropping.

“There is (rental) supply coming on but I still think the economy’s going to recover. People want to be in Toronto, they want to be downtown,” he said.

Even if fewer people commute downtown to work in the future, there could be another cohort reluctant to ride transit and will want to be close enough to walk to work, said Myers.

An earlier release from the same study showed condo rents in some of Toronto’s trendiest downtown neighbourhoods such as the Distillery and Entertainment Districts had dropped two per cent to eight per cent between March and April.