Rent prices in Ontario keep plummeting and here's where they're the lowest

The cost of living in Ontario may still be completely out of hand, but at least the price of something in the province is going down: rent.

The price of the average Ontario apartment has been on the decline for months, including in cities like Guelph, Barrie, Mississauga and yes, even incessantly expensive Toronto, which now boasts the lowest rents it's seen in years as the housing market crashes.

A sharp rise in supply amid a drop-off in demand across both the real estate and rental markets — especially when it comes to condo units — has been a huge force in reducing prices in key markets across Canada, with year-over-year price reductions now reported for eight months in a row.

In Ontario, prices for all unit sizes but three-bedrooms plummeted year-over-year yet again in May, according to new stats from Rentals.ca and Urbanation, released this week.

Chart of how the provinces measure up when it comes to rent prices from Rentals.ca and Urbanation's latest National Rent Report.

The May figures show that in Toronto, the going rate for a standard one-bedroom unit has fallen a pretty substantial 7.1 per cent in the last year (0.7 per cent in the last month) to $2,302, while the rate for two-bedrooms has dropped by an even larger 10.7 per cent year-over-year (though rose 0.3 per cent last month versus the month prior) to $2,933.

The city, at many points ranked the second-most expensive for tenants in Canada, has now sunk to the fifth spot, behind North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby and Coquitlam, B.C.

Chart of the nation's 20 most expensive rental markets and how their prices have changed from Rentals.ca and Urbanation's latest National Rent Report.

Venturing outside of the core will, of course, still get you more bang for your buck, with Ontario locales like Welland, Sarnia, Windsor, Peterborough and St. Catharines landing quite far down on the national list.

In these locations, one can nab a one-bedroom for as low as $1,555 per month (in Welland) or a two-bedroom for as little as $1,836 (in Sarnia), with prices, for the most part, still on the decline.

Chart showing the locales that landed in the 20th-40th spots on the report's list of most-expensive places for tenants in the country, along with one- and two-bedroom rates and how they've changed, from Rentals.ca and Urbanation's latest National Rent Report.

Relatively inexpensive rents can also be found in London ($1,752 for the average 1br), Niagara Falls ($1,766), Oshawa ($1,789) and Brantford ($1,801), which came in 38th, 36th, 34th and 33rd, respectively, on Rentals.ca and Urbanation's list for most expensive rental markets in Canada (for a one-bedroom).

The experts note that Ontario is currently home to 15 of Canada's 25 most expensive markets — led by GTA places like Toronto, Oakville, Richmond Hill and Markham — but also nine of the nation's most affordable markets.

The province also dominated rent declines in May, having eight of the 15 markets (not counting the six largest centres in Canada) with the largest price depreciations.

Chart of the nation's 20 least expensive rental markets and how their prices have changed from Rentals.ca and Urbanation's latest National Rent Report.

It should be noted that the report does not take into account smaller markets, and also only looks at purpose-built rental and condo apartments, not units in houses. That said, it still offers a good idea of what the landscape across the province and the country is looking like, which any current or aspiring city dweller should take note of.