Rents in this Ontario town lead Canada with biggest year-over-year decline at 13.2 per cent

The average asking rent for all residential properties in Canada declined 4.3 per cent year-over-year in June, while up-and-down rents in Ajax saw both the biggest drop for one-bedroom units at 13.2 per cent and one of the biggest spikes for two-bedrooms at +3.7 per cent.

The average rent in Canada in June was down to $2,033, marking the 21st consecutive month of annual rent decreases, according to the latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca.

Rents in Ajax averaged $2,217 per month – good for 17th in Canada among communities surveyed – while one-bedroom units averaged $1,834 per month, down 3.6 per cent from last month and down a whopping 13.2 per cent year-over-year. Scarborough at 10.7 per cent and Coquitlam. B.C. at 10.6 per cent were they only towns in double figures.

Two-bedroom units, conversely, rose 3.7 per cent year-over-year, the third biggest increase in the nation among the 20 communities surveyed.  Only North York (5.9 per cent) and Kanata (5.7 per cent) enjoyed higher rent increases.

North Vancouver ($2,983), Vancouver ($2,723), North York ($2,563), Kanata ($2,551) and Toronto ($2,543) continue to lead the nation with the highest rents.

While rents across Canada fell once again last month, the pace of decline slowed down some after larger annual drops of 5.3 per cent in March and 4.7 per cent in April and May. Rents were actually up marginally 0.2 per cent month-over-month in June, the third consecutive monthly increase since asking rents hit a 35-month low of $2,008 in March. Over the past two years, rents have declined nearly seven per cent, falling to their lowest June level in four years.

“Canada’s rental market continued to show signs of improvement in June, with rents rising for a third straight month and the pace of annual declines easing from earlier in the year,” said Urbanation President Shaun Hildebrand. “Toronto’s gradual stabilization could be an early signal that the market is beginning to bottom out this cycle.”

Despite the recent declines, affordability remains renters’ top concern. According to a spring rental preference survey by Rentals.ca, nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of respondents are looking for rentals priced at $2,000 or less — below the national average rent — and 70 per cent cited high rent prices as their biggest challenge.

Rents rose month-over-month in four of Canada’s six largest markets in June, led by Ottawa (+1.3 per cent to $2,149) and Toronto (+1.2 per cent to $2,537). The increase marked Toronto’s third consecutive monthly gain since March – a possible sign the market’s prolonged run of annual declines, now at 29 months, may be nearing an end, with rents down just 1.9 per cent annually.