Toronto, there is not much of a relief in sight for renters in this changing housing market. The combination of tight rental market conditions and rising immigration rates should keep upward pressure on rents in the near future. Average condo rents have been rising at a double-digit pace, with a one-bedroom unit in the Greater Toronto Area hitting $2,269 in the second quarter.
Many prospective landlords will not want to be dipping their toes into the rental market at the moment. This isn't a great time to be buying a rental property, it is still a bit too expensive.
There's no easy fix for affordability in the housing market. The challenge is policymakers have no mechanism to make builders build in a high interest rate, slow environment where people are reluctant to buy pre-construction housing. We have to let prices adjust to this current higher-rate environment, see where they end up landing, and then we'll eventually see builders put more supply on the market.
