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Urbanation said that 417 units of 6,163 in the quarter rented for higher than their asking price, a 59 per cent increase from a year earlier. The number of units that rented for more than $3,000 per month almost doubled from a year ago to 276, the company said.

Those increases match national numbers from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. released in November showing prices rising in Toronto. Like the housing market, the only major urban centre with steeper rental increases than Toronto was Vancouver, where prices for a two-bedroom apartment were up 4.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to the CMHC.

Local Toronto broker David Batori said he’s seeing it on the ground when he lists a property for rent — something he doesn’t do often because he says there is such high demand and tenants just stay put.



“I had a basement apartment. It was nice, it had been renovated with higher ceilings,” said Batori, the broker of record with Re/Max Hallmark Batori Group Inc. “We were asking $1,250 a month, we got into a bidding war with three bidders and settled for $1,380.”

Batori says renters are making aggressive offers to lock down units, some willing to cut a cheque for a year’s rent in advance just to make sure they can find lodging.

The demand for condo units comes as Urbanation says average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto averaging 650 square feet is now $1,645. The average rent in the first quarter of 2016 was $2.53 per square foot, up from $2.37 per square foot a year ago.