What your basement could earn in Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering

With the average house price in Durham still sitting at $835,854, many homeowners who aren’t willing to move (but hoping to earn a little extra money to grapple with the high cost of living) might consider renting out their basements.

A recent study from Canadian real estate platform Wahi found that people who own single-family (low-rise, possibly detached) homes in the GTA with basement apartments suitable for tenants could earn anywhere from $1,700 to $2,400 extra per month, depending on location.

Durham region municipalities such as Oshawa, Pickering, Ajax and Whitby are listed in the report, with data suggesting that Oshawa homeowners can earn quite a bit in rent relative to the median price of their home.  

In Oshawa, the median home sale price is $755,000, while the median annual rental yield is $21,600. 

The study notes that while Oshawa’s median monthly rent of $1,800 is the fourth-lowest in the GTA, the city also has the lowest median sale price in the region by more than $150,000. That means that, added together, 12 months of the median rent represented the highest share of the median sale price (2.9 per cent) of any GTA community. 

“While Toronto condo buyers have been benefiting from significantly and continually lower prices as the market corrects, single-family prices have remained firmer,” Wahi economist Ryan McLaughlin said in the study. 

“Fortunately, for single-family home buyers facing higher barriers to entry, there is the option of purchasing a property with a secondary suite — something we’ve seen elevated interest in during recent years.” 

Wahi’s 2025 What Homeseekers Want survey found that one-in-five Ontarians identified a separate entrance (often necessary to create a rental unit within a larger home) as an important attribute for a home they’d move into.

To learn more about possible rental income, Wahi analyzed median asking rents for one- and two-bedroom lease listings from 2025 for detached and semi-detached homes in the GTA, with a focus on basements. Twenty-nine communities were analyzed.

In Ajax, the median yearly rental yield is $21,600 in a home that costs about $935,000. In Whitby, homeowners could also make $21,600 in rent in a home that costs about $990,000.

In Pickering, the median yearly rental yield is $21,000 in a home that would sell for about $1,050,000. 

The study notes that four of the five communities with the highest median rents are located in Toronto, with Oakville rounding out the top five. 

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