TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/h2>- INTRODUCTION<\/a><\/li>
- RENTAL MARKET TRENDS AND INSIGHTS FOR 2020\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- IN TORONTO<\/a><\/li>
- IN MONTREAL<\/a><\/li>
- IN VANCOUVER<\/a><\/li>
- IN OTTAWA<\/a><\/li>
- IN CALGARY<\/a><\/li>
- IN EDMONTON<\/a><\/li>
- IN WINNIPEG\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- IN LONDON\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- IN HALIFAX<\/a><\/li>
- IN HAMILTON\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- IN SASKATOON<\/a><\/li>
- IN REGINA<\/a><\/li>
- IN VICTORIA\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- RENTALS.CA\u2019S 2020 PREDICTIONS<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n<\/a>
1. INTRODUCTION<\/h3>
Rents will continue to climb in 2020 in major metropolitan areas in Canada, but while the increases won’t be as much as the last few years, finding the right rental will continue to be a challenge, according to housing experts from around the country. <\/span><\/p>The average rental rates will increase by 3 per cent year over year on a national basis in 2020, according to <\/span>Rentals.ca<\/span><\/a>’s and <\/span>Bullpen Research & Consulting<\/span><\/a>’s December <\/span>National Rent Report<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>Annual rental rates could increase in 2020 by as much as 7 per cent in Toronto, 5 per cent in Montreal, 4 per cent in Ottawa and 3 per cent in Vancouver, according to the rent report.<\/span><\/p>Rentals.ca talked to 25 housing professionals and experts including Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation<\/a> (CMHC) senior analysts, data analysts, economists, developers, affordable housing advocates, investors and city councillors for their insight on the 2020 rental market in Canada.<\/span><\/p>THE YEAR OF THE RENTERS’ OR BUYERS’ MARKET?<\/b><\/p>
For the developer and property manager, the rental market performed well in 2019, with strong demand across Canada, peaking in popularity in the third quarter, according to <\/span>Local Logic<\/span><\/a> in Montreal.<\/span><\/p>“In 2019, online rental activity shows rental listings are increasingly more in demand compared to for-sale properties, and we expect that to continue into 2020,” says <\/span>Vincent-Charles Hodder<\/b><\/a>,<\/span> CEO of Local Logic in Montreal.<\/span><\/p>Local Logic is tracking shifting lifestyle demands of renters and sees more families renting rather than owning, which “has led to a larger number of more diverse rentals available on the market.<\/span><\/p>“As more families continue to rent as opposed to buy, we see renters for larger homes are willing to sacrifice their ability to take transit or walk to get their groceries in favour of being located near a quality school,” he says, “We expect the rental markets to perform very strongly in areas close to schools in 2020.”<\/span><\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/llDATA.jpg\")
<\/p>
AFFORDABILITY WILL REMAIN AN ISSUE IN 2020 FOR RENTERS <\/b><\/p>
For the renter, 2019 mirrored the last few years. Supply did not match rental demand in much of Canada — except the Prairie Provinces — and high and rising real estate prices and the stress test kept many would-be homeowners in the rental market longer.<\/span><\/p>Competing in the crowded rental market last year were millennials moving around mostly for new jobs and looking for the best apartment amenities; immigrants finding their way in a new country; and baby boomers retiring, downsizing and selling their homes to capitalize on their equity to rent again. They are tired of mowing grass and shoveling snow. <\/span><\/p>And, let’s not forget the big affordability issue with many Canadians trying to make ends meet to survive in purpose-built rentals and co-ops. For example, in Toronto, 58 per cent of young households spend over 30 per cent of their income on rent and utilities, while 35 per cent spend over 50 per cent, according to the <\/span>Candian Rental Housing Index<\/span><\/a>. A healthy rent to income ratio is 30 per cent.<\/span><\/p>“Affordability will remain a major issue in 2020,” says <\/span>Matt Danison<\/b><\/a>, CEO of <\/span>Rentals.ca <\/span><\/a>“We will see more short-term rental regulations, vacancy taxes, co-living developments, smaller apartment units, telecommuting, and millennials living with their parents longer.”<\/span><\/p>As the desire for different living spaces are shifting, as prices increase, as digital tools become more common and as demand is stronger, developers, property managers and renters are looking for more creative solutions to housing problems. Governments at every level will also need more creative and flexible thinking. <\/span><\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2020-Report-02.png\")
<\/p>
WHERE RENTS ARE HIGH AND VACANCY RATES ARE LOW<\/b> <\/span><\/p>Rents have been, are, and will continue to be highest in Toronto and Vancouver. Vacancy rates range from an unhealthy 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent. <\/span><\/p>Most surrounding cities of the GTA and Greater Vancouver are also seeing rising rents as more people move trading the higher housing costs of the big cities for lower rents but longer commutes. <\/span><\/p>Rents are also increasing in Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax, where vacancy rates are under 2 percent. <\/span><\/p>Only in the Prairie Provinces are rents more stable and vacancy rates in the 3 per cent-plus healthy rate per CMHC. Winnipeg is the exception with increasing rents this year. <\/span><\/p>Let’s take a deeper dive into the 2020 rental market. <\/span><\/p><\/a>2. RENTAL MARKET TRENDS AND INSIGHTS FOR 2020 <\/h3>
EXPECT THE MARKET TO BE UNDERSUPPLIED IN 2020 IN CANADA <\/b><\/p>
Veteran housing analyst <\/span>Ben Myers<\/b> <\/a>has one wish for 2020: “<\/span>I wish everyone on all sides of the housing debate would do a bit more reading on solutions that have actually worked and more research on what policy changes have not worked.” <\/span><\/p>The president of <\/span>Bullpen Research & Consulting<\/span><\/a> said “<\/span>the mortgage stress test, expanded rent control, changing AirBnB legislation, rapid population growth, and record rental housing construction continues to disrupt the balance between supply and demand nationally. We expect the market to continue to be undersupplied overall in Canada in 2020.”<\/span><\/p>Here are some trends he sees this year: <\/span><\/p>\n- More renovations of older run-down apartments, as rent growth has been high enough to justify those investments,<\/span><\/li>\n
- More rental apartment starts, with a greater focus on smaller units, more affordable units and more shared amenities,<\/span><\/li>\n
- More alternative rental options like laneway suites, tiny homes, co-living developments,<\/span><\/li>\n
- More buildings sold as condominiums to individual owners who agree to lease all suites in the building in a pooled rental arrangement (popular in university towns). <\/span><\/li>\n
- He also said he wouldn’t be surprised if corporations start buying condominiums to ensure they have close-by housing for their incoming graduates. “It would be a great recruiting tool to have properties available within walking distance of their office.” <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>
He sees rents continuing to rise overall in Canada (3 per cent) and in Toronto (7 per cent). <\/span><\/p> “<\/span>According to the latest Housing Market Outlook report by CMHC for the Toronto CMA,” Myers says, “The population of the metro area is expected to grow by 139,000 people in 2020 — another huge year. Despite the expected increase in apartment completions (condo & rental), demand will likely far exceed supply for another year.” <\/span><\/p>Myers believes Toronto is a “livable” city for few people, “which<\/span> essentially means you’re planning a city for the rich. When there is a limited amount of anything desirable, the most affluent people have the resources to pay the most for those things, and housing is no exception.”<\/span><\/p>There is a massive waiting list for social and affordable housing<\/a> in the Greater Toronto Area and the city of Toronto, Myers says. “The “Housing Now” initiative, spearheaded by the city of Toronto, is trying to upzone government lands for a mix of affordable and market housing, but continues to run into opposition from politicians for being too tall and too dense. <\/span><\/p>“The local NIMBYs are out in force because they’ll lose a parking lot, they might lose a view, they might experience traffic congestion, and poor people might move into their community,” Myers says. “There will never be anywhere near enough affordable rental product as land is in short supply, and the land that is available gets regulated to death, resulting in thousands of lost units.” <\/span><\/p>Myers says rent control would be “much more effective at 5 per cent instead of 2 per cent.”<\/span><\/p>He says 5 per cent would prevent rent gouging, but would allow landlords to charge rents much closer to the actual market rates on vacant units. (In the United States, two states enacted rent control last year — Oregon at 7 per cent and California at 5 per cent.) <\/span><\/p>He says as it is, landlords “’renovict’” tenants, hoping they won’t return after the renovation, or they say they are moving into the unit themselves, only to re-rent the unit several months later. <\/span><\/p>“Rent control often leads to discrimination in the leasing prosess,” Myers says. “A landlord is more likely to rent to a student who is only going to stay for a year, as opposed to a single mother looking to establish roots in the community and stay long term.” <\/span><\/p>He believes “there should be much higher punishments for landlords for false or fraudulent evictions, and there should also be a way for landlords to recoup losses associated with tenants who destroy or damage rental units or abuse the system.” <\/span><\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2020-Report-03.png\")
<\/p>
2020 A LANDLORDS’ MARKET IN MANY REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY <\/b><\/p>
Author of eight books, real estate investor, researcher, philanthropist and educator <\/span>Don R. Campbell<\/span><\/a> believes rents will go up in 2020 depending on regional economics and demographics. <\/span><\/p>Campbell is the senior analyst with the <\/span>Real Estate Investment Network<\/span><\/a> and the president of Cutting Edge Research, Inc. <\/span><\/p>“The demographic shifts we are witnessing in the GTA, Hamilton and Ottawa will keep upward pressure on rental rates,” he maintains, “While in other regions, such as Edmonton and Calgary, the upward pressure will not be quite as high — although higher than 2019.<\/span><\/p>“Overall, the demand being created by the record high immigration rates coupled with the large millennial cohort moving through the housing market — although a bit delayed — will definitely keep rental demand strong in many regions,” he says, “And with the delay in supply, rents will increase.<\/span><\/p>He adds that it will continue to be a landlords’ market this year “in many regions of the country, especially in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. In other regions, especially on the prairies, a renter will have more choices.”<\/span><\/p>Campbell believes one of the problems with the rental market is <\/span>government at all levels vilifying independent, real estate investors and entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>“In fact,” he says, “It seems the narrative that surrounds the terms ‘real estate investor’ and ‘entrepreneur’ in Canada has been changed from ‘thank goodness we have them’ to ‘they are the problem in this world.” <\/span><\/p>He says elected officials “gain political points,” but put a burden on housing providers with more taxes, regulations and tighter rules on rental property financing. <\/span><\/p>He says a CMHC survey shows 50 per cent of rental properties in Canada are owned by independent investors. <\/span><\/p>“Remove those 50 per cent,” he says, “And you would have a rental crisis that would ripple from the streets of every city all the way to the halls of Parliament.<\/span><\/p><\/a>3. IN TORONTO<\/h3>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2020-Report-4-13.png\")
<\/p>
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO CHANGE THE TIGHT MARKET AND RISING RENTS?<\/b><\/p>
The rental market will remain tight in 2020, and rents will increase in <\/span>Toronto<\/b><\/a>.<\/span>The vacancy rate increased to 1.5 per cent in 2019 up from 1.1 per cent in 2018. The vacancy rate forecast by the CMHC Housing Market Outlook for 2020 is 1.2 per cent. <\/span><\/p>“Average rents increased by 6.8 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA),” says <\/span>Jordan S. Nanowski<\/b><\/a>, MA (Econ), senior analyst, Economics (Greater Toronto Area) Policy and Innovation, Market Insights for CMHC. “Despite increased purpose-built rental completions, demand for rental units still significantly outweighs the available supply, which creates tight rental market conditions where landlords can charge new tenants higher rents.”<\/span><\/p>Nanowski wrote the CMHC Rental Market Report for the GTA published Jan. 15. <\/span><\/p>And, he says, newly completed purpose-built rentals typically charge higher rents, which has also contributed to the growth of average rents for the market.<\/span><\/p>Nanowski says affordability is “the biggest issue facing the GTA rental market,” and to address the problem supply of affordable rentals<\/a> should be directly targeted and increased.”<\/span><\/p>Even with rising supply, he says, it has not been enough as demand is “bolstered by current housing market conditions and strong growth in key rental demographics (individuals aged 25-44, immigrants, non-permanent residents).”<\/span><\/p>“Condominium apartments have acted as the de-facto rental accommodation supplier for many years in the GTA,” Nanowski says. Approximately one-third of GTA condominium apartments are rented out.” For new condominiums, that number is nearly 50 per cent. <\/span><\/p>“Demand for these units are exceptionally strong,” he says. “This is evident by a 0.8 per cent vacancy rate in the GTA.”<\/span><\/p>More units are being built and are in the pipeline for Toronto, but will they be enough for the fastest growing city in N<\/span>orth America? In a study from Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development<\/a> last year, Toronto grew by more than 77,000 residents by the end of July 2018. The study said that was more than the next three cities combined — Phoenix, AZ; San Antonio, TX and Fort Worth, TX.<\/p>And, according to most projections, growth is not slowing down for Canada’s largest city. <\/span><\/p>A <\/span>Nov. 4 story in T<\/a><\/span>he Globe and Mail<\/a> states: “In Toronto, there were about 7,800 rental units under construction in September…The boom in rentals could go a long way in addressing low vacancy rates in many cities, but is still far off what’s needed to offset a rising population for Toronto. A recent Royal Bank of Canada report determined Toronto would have to build an average of 26,800 units a year to bring vacancy rates up to a healthy 3 per cent….”<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rentals.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2020-Report-04.png\")
<\/p>
“It’s nowhere near what we need,” says<\/span> Tony Irwin<\/b><\/a>, president of the <\/span>Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO)<\/span><\/a>. “We are in a housing crisis. We have to do things that are extraordinary. And, we need to do things with immediate impact.” <\/span><\/p>Some of Irwin’s extraordinary suggestions with immediate impact include: <\/span><\/p>\n- Developing “Unicorn sites,” <\/span><\/li>\n
- Streamlining the city’s development approval process, <\/span><\/li>\n
- Engaging with communities — NIMBYs and tenants’ groups — sooner in the development process, <\/span><\/li>\n
- Bringing Toronto’s outdated zoning codes up to date, such as considering rental-only zoning as done in Vancouver, and more as-of-right zoning. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Irwin says Unicorn sites are “a no-brainer,” part of the solution — if the government would get out of the way. “The space is there; the infrastructure is there.” <\/span><\/p>
1. INTRODUCTION<\/h3>
Rents will continue to climb in 2020 in major metropolitan areas in Canada, but while the increases won’t be as much as the last few years, finding the right rental will continue to be a challenge, according to housing experts from around the country. <\/span><\/p> The average rental rates will increase by 3 per cent year over year on a national basis in 2020, according to <\/span>Rentals.ca<\/span><\/a>’s and <\/span>Bullpen Research & Consulting<\/span><\/a>’s December <\/span>National Rent Report<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p> Annual rental rates could increase in 2020 by as much as 7 per cent in Toronto, 5 per cent in Montreal, 4 per cent in Ottawa and 3 per cent in Vancouver, according to the rent report.<\/span><\/p> Rentals.ca talked to 25 housing professionals and experts including Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation<\/a> (CMHC) senior analysts, data analysts, economists, developers, affordable housing advocates, investors and city councillors for their insight on the 2020 rental market in Canada.<\/span><\/p> THE YEAR OF THE RENTERS’ OR BUYERS’ MARKET?<\/b><\/p> For the developer and property manager, the rental market performed well in 2019, with strong demand across Canada, peaking in popularity in the third quarter, according to <\/span>Local Logic<\/span><\/a> in Montreal.<\/span><\/p> “In 2019, online rental activity shows rental listings are increasingly more in demand compared to for-sale properties, and we expect that to continue into 2020,” says <\/span>Vincent-Charles Hodder<\/b><\/a>,<\/span> CEO of Local Logic in Montreal.<\/span><\/p> Local Logic is tracking shifting lifestyle demands of renters and sees more families renting rather than owning, which “has led to a larger number of more diverse rentals available on the market.<\/span><\/p> “As more families continue to rent as opposed to buy, we see renters for larger homes are willing to sacrifice their ability to take transit or walk to get their groceries in favour of being located near a quality school,” he says, “We expect the rental markets to perform very strongly in areas close to schools in 2020.”<\/span><\/p> AFFORDABILITY WILL REMAIN AN ISSUE IN 2020 FOR RENTERS <\/b><\/p> For the renter, 2019 mirrored the last few years. Supply did not match rental demand in much of Canada — except the Prairie Provinces — and high and rising real estate prices and the stress test kept many would-be homeowners in the rental market longer.<\/span><\/p> Competing in the crowded rental market last year were millennials moving around mostly for new jobs and looking for the best apartment amenities; immigrants finding their way in a new country; and baby boomers retiring, downsizing and selling their homes to capitalize on their equity to rent again. They are tired of mowing grass and shoveling snow. <\/span><\/p> And, let’s not forget the big affordability issue with many Canadians trying to make ends meet to survive in purpose-built rentals and co-ops. For example, in Toronto, 58 per cent of young households spend over 30 per cent of their income on rent and utilities, while 35 per cent spend over 50 per cent, according to the <\/span>Candian Rental Housing Index<\/span><\/a>. A healthy rent to income ratio is 30 per cent.<\/span><\/p> “Affordability will remain a major issue in 2020,” says <\/span>Matt Danison<\/b><\/a>, CEO of <\/span>Rentals.ca <\/span><\/a>“We will see more short-term rental regulations, vacancy taxes, co-living developments, smaller apartment units, telecommuting, and millennials living with their parents longer.”<\/span><\/p> As the desire for different living spaces are shifting, as prices increase, as digital tools become more common and as demand is stronger, developers, property managers and renters are looking for more creative solutions to housing problems. Governments at every level will also need more creative and flexible thinking. <\/span><\/p> WHERE RENTS ARE HIGH AND VACANCY RATES ARE LOW<\/b> <\/span><\/p> Rents have been, are, and will continue to be highest in Toronto and Vancouver. Vacancy rates range from an unhealthy 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent. <\/span><\/p> Most surrounding cities of the GTA and Greater Vancouver are also seeing rising rents as more people move trading the higher housing costs of the big cities for lower rents but longer commutes. <\/span><\/p> Rents are also increasing in Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax, where vacancy rates are under 2 percent. <\/span><\/p> Only in the Prairie Provinces are rents more stable and vacancy rates in the 3 per cent-plus healthy rate per CMHC. Winnipeg is the exception with increasing rents this year. <\/span><\/p> Let’s take a deeper dive into the 2020 rental market. <\/span><\/p><\/a> EXPECT THE MARKET TO BE UNDERSUPPLIED IN 2020 IN CANADA <\/b><\/p> Veteran housing analyst <\/span>Ben Myers<\/b> <\/a>has one wish for 2020: “<\/span>I wish everyone on all sides of the housing debate would do a bit more reading on solutions that have actually worked and more research on what policy changes have not worked.” <\/span><\/p> The president of <\/span>Bullpen Research & Consulting<\/span><\/a> said “<\/span>the mortgage stress test, expanded rent control, changing AirBnB legislation, rapid population growth, and record rental housing construction continues to disrupt the balance between supply and demand nationally. We expect the market to continue to be undersupplied overall in Canada in 2020.”<\/span><\/p> Here are some trends he sees this year: <\/span><\/p> He sees rents continuing to rise overall in Canada (3 per cent) and in Toronto (7 per cent). <\/span><\/p> “<\/span>According to the latest Housing Market Outlook report by CMHC for the Toronto CMA,” Myers says, “The population of the metro area is expected to grow by 139,000 people in 2020 — another huge year. Despite the expected increase in apartment completions (condo & rental), demand will likely far exceed supply for another year.” <\/span><\/p> Myers believes Toronto is a “livable” city for few people, “which<\/span> essentially means you’re planning a city for the rich. When there is a limited amount of anything desirable, the most affluent people have the resources to pay the most for those things, and housing is no exception.”<\/span><\/p> There is a massive waiting list for social and affordable housing<\/a> in the Greater Toronto Area and the city of Toronto, Myers says. “The “Housing Now” initiative, spearheaded by the city of Toronto, is trying to upzone government lands for a mix of affordable and market housing, but continues to run into opposition from politicians for being too tall and too dense. <\/span><\/p> “The local NIMBYs are out in force because they’ll lose a parking lot, they might lose a view, they might experience traffic congestion, and poor people might move into their community,” Myers says. “There will never be anywhere near enough affordable rental product as land is in short supply, and the land that is available gets regulated to death, resulting in thousands of lost units.” <\/span><\/p> Myers says rent control would be “much more effective at 5 per cent instead of 2 per cent.”<\/span><\/p> He says 5 per cent would prevent rent gouging, but would allow landlords to charge rents much closer to the actual market rates on vacant units. (In the United States, two states enacted rent control last year — Oregon at 7 per cent and California at 5 per cent.) <\/span><\/p> He says as it is, landlords “’renovict’” tenants, hoping they won’t return after the renovation, or they say they are moving into the unit themselves, only to re-rent the unit several months later. <\/span><\/p> “Rent control often leads to discrimination in the leasing prosess,” Myers says. “A landlord is more likely to rent to a student who is only going to stay for a year, as opposed to a single mother looking to establish roots in the community and stay long term.” <\/span><\/p> He believes “there should be much higher punishments for landlords for false or fraudulent evictions, and there should also be a way for landlords to recoup losses associated with tenants who destroy or damage rental units or abuse the system.” <\/span><\/p> 2020 A LANDLORDS’ MARKET IN MANY REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY <\/b><\/p> Author of eight books, real estate investor, researcher, philanthropist and educator <\/span>Don R. Campbell<\/span><\/a> believes rents will go up in 2020 depending on regional economics and demographics. <\/span><\/p> Campbell is the senior analyst with the <\/span>Real Estate Investment Network<\/span><\/a> and the president of Cutting Edge Research, Inc. <\/span><\/p> “The demographic shifts we are witnessing in the GTA, Hamilton and Ottawa will keep upward pressure on rental rates,” he maintains, “While in other regions, such as Edmonton and Calgary, the upward pressure will not be quite as high — although higher than 2019.<\/span><\/p> “Overall, the demand being created by the record high immigration rates coupled with the large millennial cohort moving through the housing market — although a bit delayed — will definitely keep rental demand strong in many regions,” he says, “And with the delay in supply, rents will increase.<\/span><\/p> He adds that it will continue to be a landlords’ market this year “in many regions of the country, especially in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. In other regions, especially on the prairies, a renter will have more choices.”<\/span><\/p> Campbell believes one of the problems with the rental market is <\/span>government at all levels vilifying independent, real estate investors and entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p> “In fact,” he says, “It seems the narrative that surrounds the terms ‘real estate investor’ and ‘entrepreneur’ in Canada has been changed from ‘thank goodness we have them’ to ‘they are the problem in this world.” <\/span><\/p> He says elected officials “gain political points,” but put a burden on housing providers with more taxes, regulations and tighter rules on rental property financing. <\/span><\/p> He says a CMHC survey shows 50 per cent of rental properties in Canada are owned by independent investors. <\/span><\/p> “Remove those 50 per cent,” he says, “And you would have a rental crisis that would ripple from the streets of every city all the way to the halls of Parliament.<\/span><\/p><\/a> WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO CHANGE THE TIGHT MARKET AND RISING RENTS?<\/b><\/p> The rental market will remain tight in 2020, and rents will increase in <\/span>Toronto<\/b><\/a>.<\/span>The vacancy rate increased to 1.5 per cent in 2019 up from 1.1 per cent in 2018. The vacancy rate forecast by the CMHC Housing Market Outlook for 2020 is 1.2 per cent. <\/span><\/p> “Average rents increased by 6.8 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA),” says <\/span>Jordan S. Nanowski<\/b><\/a>, MA (Econ), senior analyst, Economics (Greater Toronto Area) Policy and Innovation, Market Insights for CMHC. “Despite increased purpose-built rental completions, demand for rental units still significantly outweighs the available supply, which creates tight rental market conditions where landlords can charge new tenants higher rents.”<\/span><\/p> Nanowski wrote the CMHC Rental Market Report for the GTA published Jan. 15. <\/span><\/p> And, he says, newly completed purpose-built rentals typically charge higher rents, which has also contributed to the growth of average rents for the market.<\/span><\/p> Nanowski says affordability is “the biggest issue facing the GTA rental market,” and to address the problem supply of affordable rentals<\/a> should be directly targeted and increased.”<\/span><\/p> Even with rising supply, he says, it has not been enough as demand is “bolstered by current housing market conditions and strong growth in key rental demographics (individuals aged 25-44, immigrants, non-permanent residents).”<\/span><\/p> “Condominium apartments have acted as the de-facto rental accommodation supplier for many years in the GTA,” Nanowski says. Approximately one-third of GTA condominium apartments are rented out.” For new condominiums, that number is nearly 50 per cent. <\/span><\/p> “Demand for these units are exceptionally strong,” he says. “This is evident by a 0.8 per cent vacancy rate in the GTA.”<\/span><\/p> More units are being built and are in the pipeline for Toronto, but will they be enough for the fastest growing city in N<\/span>orth America? In a study from Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development<\/a> last year, Toronto grew by more than 77,000 residents by the end of July 2018. The study said that was more than the next three cities combined — Phoenix, AZ; San Antonio, TX and Fort Worth, TX.<\/p> And, according to most projections, growth is not slowing down for Canada’s largest city. <\/span><\/p> A <\/span>Nov. 4 story in T<\/a><\/span>he Globe and Mail<\/a> states: “In Toronto, there were about 7,800 rental units under construction in September…The boom in rentals could go a long way in addressing low vacancy rates in many cities, but is still far off what’s needed to offset a rising population for Toronto. A recent Royal Bank of Canada report determined Toronto would have to build an average of 26,800 units a year to bring vacancy rates up to a healthy 3 per cent….”<\/p> “It’s nowhere near what we need,” says<\/span> Tony Irwin<\/b><\/a>, president of the <\/span>Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO)<\/span><\/a>. “We are in a housing crisis. We have to do things that are extraordinary. And, we need to do things with immediate impact.” <\/span><\/p> Some of Irwin’s extraordinary suggestions with immediate impact include: <\/span><\/p> Irwin says Unicorn sites are “a no-brainer,” part of the solution — if the government would get out of the way. “The space is there; the infrastructure is there.” <\/span><\/p><\/p><\/p>2. RENTAL MARKET TRENDS AND INSIGHTS FOR 2020 <\/h3>
\n
<\/p>3. IN TORONTO<\/h3>
<\/p><\/p>\n