The Rental Market

The Rental Market By Theresa Grant Real Estate columnist With the craziness of Covid -19 well behind us, rental prices still seemed unwilling to give an inch. That is until now. The rental market has changed significantly across Canada and in Ontario. I have a student friend who asked me to look at finding him and a friend a unit in Pickering or Ajax. This request came a year ago. At the time we looked at a few places but were soon discouraged to find landlords wanting twice the normal rent for a basement unit. Two adults sharing a basement unit would prefer to each have their own bedroom for privacy, however that seemed out of the question, given the exorbitant amount of rent being asked for a two-bedroom unit. We began looking at one-bedroom units hoping to find one with a large open area living room that one of them could use as a sleeping space. They were in short supply. In fact, all the basement units we looked at were quite small, a bit choppy as far as layout went, so not really conducive to fashioning a private space for sleeping went. As luck would have it, shortly after we began our search, his plans changed. The hunt for a new space was put on hold. He came to me recently and asked if we could renew our search, as things had settled down for him. The search criteria remained the same as a year ago. Pickering or Ajax, but one big difference was what they were able to pay in rent. Things had stabilized for them, and they could now afford to pay more. Imagine their surprise when we went online only to find that rents had come down over the past year. So, this meant they had a real choice. We found some units that were sitting on the market for 80+ days. Units that have been sitting on the market for 2 or 3 months are good for negotiation. Prospective tenants can offer a lower rent, or they can negotiate to have utilities included or partially included. They can ask for an extra parking space or things like that. For some reason, and it remains unknown, while prices have come down in most areas, Oshawa has seen little in the way of decreasing rents. With things very much up in the air as far as stability goes. If you are in the market for a new rental, keep an eye on the market because things are definitely changing. Get creative in your approach, and if you need help, seek out a professional.