Ajax bucks national trend with price spike in one-bedroom units – National Rent Report

The average asking rent for all residential properties in Canada continued to fall, declining by 4.7 per cent year-over-year in April to $2,027 – the 19th consecutive month of annual rent decreases.

On a monthly basis, rents in Canada were up slightly (0.9 per cent) from March, with Ajax – which just made the National Rent Report top 20 list (compiled by Urbanation) at $1,983 per month, seeing the biggest spike in the country for one-bedroom units at 3.9 per cent.

Ajax was just one of two communities on the list to experience rent increases better than one per cent (Burlington is the other at three per cent) for one-bedroom apartments in March, though rents were down 2.4 per cent in Ajax year-over-year.

Kingston saw the biggest spike year-over-year at 4.6 per cent for one-bedroom units, while Vancouver suburbs Burnaby (10.2 per cent) and Coquitlam (10.5 per cent) experienced the biggest drops.

For two-bedroom units, Waterloo had the biggest gain month-to-month at 2.5 per cent, while Kingston enjoyed (if you are a landlord) the biggest gain year-over-year at 12.4 per cent.

North Vancouver ($3,001 average asking price for rent for all types), Vancouver ($2,679), Toronto ($2,504), North York) $2,488) and Burnaby ($2,484) had the highest rents in the country in April, followed by Oakville, Etobicoke, Kanata, Coquitlam and Burlington.

On an annual basis, asking rents for condos continued to decrease, falling 5.6 per cent year-over-year to an average of $2,087. Other secondary market units, such as houses and townhomes, saw the steepest decline, falling 7.8 per cent annually to an average of $1,998. Purpose-built rentals continued to experience the smallest rent declines, down 3.7 per cent from last year and rising 1.1 per cent month-over-month to an average of $2,027.

On a provincial basis, annual apartment rent increases were seen in Nova Scotia (+3.3 per cent, $2,299), Saskatchewan (+2.2 per cent, $1,383) and Manitoba (+1.3 per cent, $1,640). Saskatchewan has also seen the largest rent increase over the past three years, with a 25.9 per cent total gain since April 2023.

The largest apartment rent decreases in the past year were seen in B.C. (-5.9 per cent, $2,336) and Ontario.