Rental Market Heating Up?

The Globe and Mail had an article last week that suggested that the rental market was heating up as would-be buyers were leaving an overheated condo market in favour of renting. As a result, the rental market is now heating up considerably. The evidence for this hypothesis provided by the author was strictly anecdotal, so I decided to do some investigating on my own to see what was happening in the condo rental market downtown.

I polled some of my colleagues who work rentals at Remax Condos Plus because I rarely get involved with rentals so I am not on top of this market. Unfortunately there wasn’t much consensus. Some agents disagreed with the article completely – they said that supply is higher than ever in the rental market.  When there are over 100 rental units in a single building like Maple Leaf Square, and plenty of other new condos set to come online this year, it’s hard to call it a landlord’s market. However, some agents had stories of bidding wars such as one agent who mentioned they had a few rental listings at CASA (33 Charles) recently and all fetched multiple offers within days of listing for rent.

The fear for investors who are buying units in new developments is will rents continue to rise to catch up with rising property prices downtown? I had one person email me and lament about how Toronto is a lousy place to be a landlord essentially because rents are so ridiculously low compared to other major world cities.

The rental market is one that investors and buyers should keep an eye on as it does affect the condo (sales) market. So I’d like to hear from you: agents who read this blog and also those of you who are looking for rental properties or investors who are trying to rent out their properties at the moment. Would you characterize this market as a tenant’s market or a landlord’s market? What is happening on the street?