Renters paying nearly $200 more in Brampton compared to national average: report

Brampton has moved up one spot on a ranking of the most expensive cities to rent in Canada, with tenants paying nearly $200 more last month than the national average.

Numbers from the latest National Rent report show one-bedroom rentals averaged at $1,935, down 0.2 per cent from April and 3.6 per cent from the previous year, while two-bedroom rents crept up 0.4 per cent from April and 1.2 per cent year-over-year to $2,291.

The average asking rent across all property types in Brampton came down by just $4 from April to $2,224 in May, according to data from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.

And while the one-bedroom rental market saw price drops, the average Brampton rent was almost $200 higher than the Canadian average last month.

Average asking rents across all property types dipped 4.7 per cent year-over-year in May across Canada, down $100 to $2,029. That means the average Brampton renter paid $195 more than the Canada-wide price, according to the report.

Brampton moved up to No. 16 on this month’s list of the 20 most expensive rental cities in Canada, up from 17th in April, when the average rent across all property types was $2,228.

Across Canada, asking rents for condos continued to decrease in May, down 6.8 per cent year-over-year to an average of $2,076. Other secondary market units, like houses and townhomes, saw the steepest decline of 7.7 per cent annually to an average of $2,004.

Units with four or more bedrooms saw the largest annual decline in rents, down 6.4 per cent to an average of $2,870. Two-bedroom rents saw the smallest decline of all unit sizes, down 2.9 per cent annually to an average of $2,160.

The largest apartment rent decreases in the past year were seen in B.C. (down 5.4 per cent to $2,328), Ontario (down 5 per cent to $2,219), and Alberta (down 4.7 to $1,663). Nova Scotia ($2,343) replaced BC ($2,328) as the most expensive apartment and condo market in the country last month, partly due to declining rents in BC and rising rents in Nova Scotia, the report says.