TREB Releases Q3 2019 Condo Rental Market Stats

TORONTO, October 3, 2019 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 10,800 condominium apartment rentals through TREB’s MLS® System in the third quarter of 2019. This result was up by 17.3 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2018. The number of condominium apartments listed for rent at some point during Q3 2019 was up by 30.1 per cent compared to Q3 2018. “The fact that rental condominium apartment listings grew at a faster year-over-year pace compared to rental transactions suggests that the rental market has become better supplied over the past year. Steady condominium apartment completions coupled with strong average rent growth have prompted many investor-owners to list their units for rent. If growth in rental listings continues to outstrip growth in rental transactions for a sustained period, we could see a more balanced market in the future,” said TREB President Michael Collins.

Average condominium apartment rents were up on a year-over-year basis across all unit types. The average one-bedroom condominium apartment rent was $2,262 in Q3 2019 – up 4.5 per cent compared to Q3 2018. The average two-bedroom condominium apartment rent was up by 4.2 per cent over the same period to $2,941. “Rental market conditions remained very tight in the GTA in the third quarter, as evidenced by average annual rent increases double the rate of inflation.

With this being said, however, the pace of average rent growth has slowed noticeably over the past twelve months as we have seen an acceleration in listings. This suggests that renters are benefitting from more choice in the marketplace,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Chief Market Analyst.

GTA REALTORS® Release September 2019 Stats

October 3, 2019 -- Toronto Real Estate Board President Michael Collins announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,825 sales through TREB's MLS® System in September 2019. This result represented strong year-over-year sales growth of 22 per cent compared to 6,414 sales reported in September 2018. It is important to note, however, that sales remain well-below the record September 2016 peak of more than 9,800 sales.

On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, the September 2019 sales level remained in virtually the same as the August 2019 result.

The supply of listings continued to be a concern in September 2019, with new listings down by 1.9 per cent year-over-year to 15,611. We have experienced multiple months this year wherein the annual rate of sales growth outpaced the annual rate of new listings growth, resulting in the overall number of active listings at month-end being well-below last year's levels. This speaks to tightening market conditions and an accelerating annual rate of price growth.

The annual rate of price growth in September reached the highest point so far in 2019. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) Composite Benchmark was up by 5.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis in September. The average selling price for all home types combined was up by a similar annual rate of 5.8 per cent to $843,115.

On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, the September 2019 average selling price was up by 1.2 per cent compared to August 2019.

Source: Treb