Rental Transactions Increase

February 3rd, 2009

The Toronto Real Estate Board just released it’s annual “Rental Market Report” full of good news for Landlords.

The report measured rented condo Apartments and Town homes from Sept 1st,08 to Dec 31st,08 vs Sept 1st,07 to Dec 31st,07. The results found that rental transactions increased by 30% compared to the activity seen in 2007.

Those numbers can be linked to the increase in newly completed condo apartments containing investor owned units as well as those buyers “sitting on the fence” waiting for prices to become more affordable.

The biggest question is: With transactions increasing, are rents following the same trend?
The answer: YES! Though not as high as the rental increase, rents have increased. The average for a 2 bedroom condo went up 2% to $1,895 vs $1,858 from the same time a year ago.

As the old business saying goes: “Buy low, Sell high.” Now’s a perfect opportunity for the condo buyer/investor to start looking and take advantage of the conditions in the marketplace. Multiple offers are seldom seen, and mortgage rates are historically low. The average rent for a one bedroom unit in the downtown district (C01) is $1,584. As rental increases are still expected in the coming year, it makes perfect sense to buy. Depending on your down payment, it’s possible to own for less then cost of rent.

If you’d like to view the Rental Market Report in full, send me an email and I’ll send it your way.

Happy Owning!