Canada Asking Rents Fall 4% in July as Market Stabilizes
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- National average asking rent fell 4% year-over-year in July to $2,037, marking the 22nd consecutive month of annual declines and a cumulative 7.5% drop over two years.
- Month-over-month rents rose 0.2% from June — the fourth straight monthly increase, with July's annual decline the smallest since February.
- Toronto apartment and condo rents climbed 1.6% from June to $2,577, posting the smallest year-over-year decline (-0.6%) among Canada's major markets and flagged by Urbanation as a "potential leading indicator."
- Vancouver remained the priciest market at $2,677 (-4.5% year-over-year), while Calgary dropped 4.5% to $1,828, Edmonton fell 3.6% to $1,509, Ottawa declined 2.4% to $2,145, and Montreal eased 1.6% to $1,940.
- Condo apartments led property-type declines at 6.3% year-over-year to $2,063, purpose-built apartments fell 2.6% to $2,041, and secondary-market units (houses and townhouses) posted the steepest drop at 7.5% to $2,007.
- Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand said the market is "showing signs of stabilizing, but not yet recovering," attributing monthly gains to typical seasonal momentum heading into the back-to-school period.
Why it matters: Tenants have absorbed a cumulative 7.5% two-year drop in asking rents, but the smallest annual decline since February and four straight monthly gains suggest a floor is forming — with Toronto's condo market tightening on falling new supply and "pent-up demand being released" as prices become more affordable. Landlords who've ridden out two years of annual declines now face a market that has stopped bleeding but hasn't recovered.
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