TORONTO, July 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® continued to report strong average rent increases for GTA condominium apartments rented through TREB’s MLS® System in the second quarter of 2018 relative to Q2 2017.

“The demand for condominium apartment rentals remained strong compared to the number of units available for rent.  Current market conditions point to the fact that renters have little choice when it comes to finding a place to live.  Governments need to look at ways to increase the supply of rental accommodation, both in terms of purpose-built rental properties and individual investor-held units.  This would go a long way to easing the pace of rent growth in the GTA,” said Mr. Bhaura.

The average one-bedroom condominium apartment rent increased by 10.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis to $2,055 in Q2 2018.  The number of one-bedroom condominium apartments rented through TREB’s MLS® System amounted to 4,879 – a 2.9 per cent decrease compared to Q2 2017.

The average two-bedroom condominium apartment rent increased by 8.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis to $2,755 in Q2 2018.  The number of two-bedroom condominium apartments rented through TREB’s MLS® System amounted to 3,104 – a 1.2 per cent increase compared to Q2 2017.

“Recent government policy changes, including rent controls, have not alleviated the strong upward pressure on monthly rents for available condominium apartments in the GTA.  New, investor-held condominium apartments entering the market have not been enough to provide the needed balance in the condo rental market.  As a result, the strong competition between renters continues to sustain double-digit or near-double-digit annual average rent increases,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.

           
Rental Market Summary: Second Quarter 2018          
           
Apartments                  
  All Bedroom Types Bachelor One-Bedroom Two-Bedroom Three-Bedroom
  Listed Leased Leased Avg. Rent Leased Avg. Rent Leased Avg. Rent Leased Avg. Rent
                     
Q2 2018 11,963 8,497 331 $1,716 4,879 $2,055 3,104 $2,755 183 $3,469
Q2 2017 11,843 8,545 272 $1,551 5,023 $1,861 3,068 $2,533 182 $3,148
Yr./Yr. % Chg. 1.0% -0.6% 21.7% 10.6% -2.9% 10.4% 1.2% 8.8% 0.5% 10.2%
                     
Townhouses                  
  All Bedroom Types Bachelor One-Bedroom Two-Bedroom Three-Bedroom
  Listed Leased Leased Avg. Rent Leased Avg. Rent Leased Avg. Rent Leased Avg. Rent
                     
Q2 2018 985 665 3 $1,650 45 $1,907 287 $2,186 330 $2,462
Q2 2017 952 613 4 $1,169 52 $1,767 239 $2,092 318 $2,415
Yr./Yr. % Chg. 3.5% 8.5% -25.0% 41.1% -13.5% 7.9% 20.1% 4.5% 3.8% 1.9%
                     
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board                
                 

Media Inquiries:   Mary Gallagher, Senior Manager Public Affairs   (416) 443-8158 maryg@trebnet.com

Over 50,000 residential and commercial TREB Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area.  Greater Toronto REALTORS® are passionate about their work. They are governed by a strict Code of Ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service®. TREB  is Canada’s largest real estate board.

www.TREBhome.com

https://www.facebook.com/TorontoRealEstateBoard https://twitter.com/TREBhome https://www.youtube.com/user/TREBChannel https://www.pinterest.com/trebhome/ http://www.linkedin.com/company/treb http://www.trebwire.com/ https://plus.google.com/+trebchannel https://www.trebhome.com/rssfeed.htm https://www.instagram.com/trebhome https://soundcloud.com/trebhome/tracks