In recent years, Toronto’s rental market has been characterized by decade-low vacancy rates, limited available supply, and high demand. However, the immediate economic impact of COVID-19, the social-distancing measures it brought on, border closures, and restrictions on schools, workplaces, and businesses had a domino effect on the rental market in Q2.

“Previously, it was rather difficult and competitive for renters to attain their desired unit, particularly in the downtown area,” says Andrew Kim, a Zoocasa agent who specializes in Toronto’s rental market. Kim notes that in the early days of the pandemic in March and April, many renters who were unsure how COVID-19 would affect their jobs and daily lives chose to terminate their leases to seek out better affordability, find a larger space, or live closer to family. The market began to pick up again as Ontario progressed through reopening in June, however the full picture of recovery remains unclear in the face of ongoing healthcare uncertainties.

To better understand the extent to which the condo rental market was impacted by COVID-19, Zoocasa reviewed quarterly data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) to highlight how condo apartment rental listing and lease rate trends have shifted across Toronto’s various neighbourhoods. Our data offers a bird’s eye view of condo rental market movement in the second quarter of 2020. For a more detailed analysis, condo investors and renters should more closely review listing trends for properties that match their needs in their neighbourhoods of interest.

Our findings show that across most City of Toronto neighbourhoods, there was a divergence between condo rental listings added and the number of leased units: most areas experienced an increase in the number of rental listings added while the number of leased units dropped. For the City of Toronto as a whole, condo rental listings grew 45% year-over-year (y-o-y) in the second quarter of 2020, while the number of condos leased declined 25% for the same period.