Only one of Ontario's 24 most populous cities can still boast an average one-bedroom rent price below the $1,200 mark. Ironically, it's this same city where rent prices are rising fastest among the entire group.

Windsor, Ontario, is quickly rising up the ranks on Zumper's national rent report, jumping from spot number 17 to spot number 16 this November with a 5.3 per cent month-over-month increase.

That increase is for one-bedroom rents only, of course, which now average $1,190 in the southwestern border city.

Two bedrooms rose by little more than one per cent between October and November in Windsor to reach $1,460 (which is still roughly half the rent on a decent two-bedroom loft in Toronto, but whatever.)

It's not monthly gains that are making Windsor stand out right now, though, but year-over-year price increases — upticks the likes of which I've never seen in Toronto for any segment of the rental market.

One-bedroom apartments are up a staggering 25.3 per cent in Windsor since this time last year. Two-bedrooms are up by just over 10 per cent, which is less shocking but still significant.

Toronto, meanwhile, remains flat on a month-over-month basis for one and two-bedroom units at respective average listing prices of $1,800 and $2,250.

Year-over-year, we're actually down.

Average two-bedroom rent prices in Toronto are approximately 15 per cent lower this November than they were last November, according to Zumper's data, with one-bedrooms down by a solid 10 per cent.

Toronto is the only city with a negative change in prices between 2020 and 2021 for two bedrooms. Ottawa also saw average prices go down, but only for one-bedroom units, and quite modestly at 0.70 per cent.

While we've known for a while that a mass exodus of young people from Toronto is (or at least was, for a time) driving up home prices in smaller communities, we've seen more and more evidence in recent months that rent prices are following suit.

Just look at the gangbuster gains posted in regions like Barrie and St. Catharines lately.

Good news for landlords in these cities, I suppose... not so much for current Windsor renters who are feeling the squeeze of a sudden surge in post-pandemic demand from the GTA.