Rent prices in the Toronto area are still making a rocky, slow recovery after a huge COVID-19 tumble that served as a blessing for tenants in the city who are used to paying exorbitant amounts for living space.

Numbers showed that prices started rising extremely marginally in March following 15 months straight of month-over-month declines and high vacancy rates across the GTA, with some neighbourhoods bouncing back faster than others.

New numbers for June from apartment listing site liv.rent show that since May, the average rent across the GTA has actually fallen ever so slightly, putting us below Vancouver averages once more.

But, the price for the average unit in downtown T.O. is still far from cheap, at anywhere from $1,884 for an unfurnished one-bedroom to $3,058 for a furnished three-bedroom.

The new average rent prices for different types of apartments across the GTA, from liv.rent's June 2021 Rent Report.

More interesting than the average prices, though, is the fine line between unfurnished and furnished apartments, which are usually more disparate in price.

In Brampton, for example — where rent prices are notably the cheapest of all eight areas surveyed — the price for a one- or two-bedroom furnished apartment is actually cheaper than a one- or two-bedroom unfurnished apartment.

In Mississauga and North York, too, one-bedroom furnished apartments are also now cheaper than unfurnished ones, on average. 

Even with the general trend being that furnished places remained more expensive than those that are leased without furnishings, the price gap between all sizes of the two apartment types in the GTA, on average, is now only $27 — substantially less than usual.

The average rent price for a furnished vs. unfurnished apartment one-bedroom in Toronto, from liv.rent's June 2021 Rent Report.

Though liv.rent doesn't speculate on what this could mean, the company does note the peculiarity of the number.

While the influx of international students, temporary workers and longer-term travellers remains low amid the pandemic, the demand for furnished units — which come equipped with everything one needs if they're not from here and aren't planning to stay permanently — has understandably gone down.