If you were to sign a lease on an average-priced Toronto apartment right now, you'd be paying a staggering 25 per cent more money per month in rent than you would have had you signed that same lease one year ago today.

Such is the state of affairs in Toronto's rental market, which continues to rebound — and then some, and then some more — from the unprecedented declines of Ontario's lockdown days.

Zumper's monthly rent report for February of 2023, released on Wednesday, reveals that the median one-bedroom rent price in Canada's largest city has skyrocketed by an even 25 per cent over the past 12 months.

Two bedrooms posted an almost-identical increase rate of 24.5 per cent, year over year.

According to the Zumper report, which is compiled by analyzing rental data from hundreds of thousands of active listings across the country, it now costs an average of $2,300 per month to rent a one bedroom apartment in Toronto (which may explain why so many people are getting creative with their living situations).

Two-bedroom units are going for nearly $3,000 as of this month, with a median rent price of $2,950 posted by Zumper on Wednesday. 

Toronto holds steady as the second-most expensive rental market in Canada. Image via Zumper.

Interestingly enough, however, rent prices for both one and two bedroom-apartments in Toronto remained stable between January and February, each posting month-over-month increase rates of zero.

Toronto and Hamilton were the only major markets where one-bedroom rent prices stayed flat, whereas Vancouver shares the honour with Toronto for two bedrooms.

"Overall, 11 cities experienced growing rent prices, 10 saw rent decline, and 2 remained flat," reads Zumper's report.

"For the most part, the top 10 markets did not change much in terms of rankings and most cities were flat to declining on a monthly basis. However, Barrie dropped out of the top 10, now tied with London as 11th."

Zumper credits higher supply levels for helping to even out Barrie's rental market "where it’s only up about 5 per cent year-over-year, a vast difference from the double-digit rent price growth rates it was experiencing last year."

Vancouver remains far and away the most expensive rental market in Canada with one bedrooms going for a median of $2,500 and two bedrooms renting for $3,500.

Toronto comes in at spot number two on the dreaded list of the nation's most expensive cities for renters, followed by Burnaby, Victoria and Kelowna, B.C.