Rents hitting record highs nationally but nearly unchanged in Oshawa, Hamilton and Ontario – report

Asking rents for all residential property types in Canada remained near record highs in April, averaging $2,188 per month across the country – up 9.3 per cent from March.

The situation is not as rosy – as least not for landlords – in Ontario, where rents decreased -0.3 per cent monthly and -0.7 per cent annually to an average of $2,404. All other provinces recorded month-over-month and year-over-year increases in asking rents for purpose-built and condominium apartments.

Rents in Oshawa remained virtually unchanged, with one-bedroom units renting for $1,823 a month – up one per cent month-over-month and up 0.8 per cent year-over-year.

The city was ranked 19th (exactly half way in the list of 38 communities surveyed) in the National Rent Report, based on monthly listings from Rentals.ca (and not based on CMHC data) and compiled by real estate research firm Urbanation.

Two-bedroom units averaged $2,145 per month in Oshawa, down 0.1 per cent from March and up 1.6 per cent year-over-year.

Hamilton was much the same, with the city ranked 18th with one-bedroom units renting for $1,840 and two-bedroom units priced at $2,145. One-bedroom properties were down 0.9 per month-over-month and up 1.9 per cent year-over-year while the numbers were reversed for two-bedroom units, which were up 0.9 per cent from March and down 1.9 per cent year-over-year.

April marked the three-year anniversary since rents fell to their COVID-19 low of $1,662 in 2021. Since that time, rents have increased by a total of 32 per cent nationally, an extra $526 per month.

As usual, the rental leaders were in Vancouver ($2,646 for 1-bdrm, $3,605 for 2-bdr), Burnaby, B.C. ($2,553 and $3,153) and Toronto ($2,459 and $3,224).

The rest of the top ten include Etobicoke, Mississauga, Kanata (Ottawa), Scarborough, Burlington, Brampton and Victoria, B.C.