The cooling of Toronto's real estate market has been harrowing for homeowners looking to sell their property without taking a huge financial hit, but has also been a bit of a blessing for those on the other side of the market who are looking to buy or rent.

With so many listings, those with enough funds to afford a place in and around the city — which is still vastly overpriced, despite a crash in sales volumes — have been able to haggle prices down below listing. And the rental market has been seeing a similar downward trend amid less-than-stiff competition for units.

The latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows a fifth consecutive month of rent declines in Canada as a whole, with prices even continuing to fall in historically red-hot cities like Toronto.

Toronto rent prices just dropped to a low not seen in 28 monthshttps://t.co/S4BvP7xgoH

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 10, 2024

As of December 2024, the average rent for a home of any size is now $2,632 in the 6ix, down from $2,640 in November — an ever-so-slight change that is still one in the right direction for tenants.

One- and two-bedrooms at the end of the year were 6.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent cheaper, respectively, than the same time in 2023, along with their marginal monthly decreases. This is a more substantive difference than the national average, which was - 3.4 per cent year-over-year for all property types (to a 17-month low of $2,109, still hundreds cheaper than T.O.).

Rent prices across Canada in December 2024. Chart from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.

Those sharing a space with roommates saw their monthly housing bills plummet the most, by 9 per cent, to an average of $1,194, the largest dip in the country thanks to "a growth in the volume of shared accommodation listings [while] demand for shared units appears to be waning."

Looking back on the year, the firms write that "apartment rents experienced a decline in 2024 across Canada's five biggest markets, including a 7.1 per cent decrease in the country's largest market, Toronto, following a 2.1 per cent increase for apartment rents in Toronto in 2023."

But, it adds that Ontario, along with B.C., still boasts some of the priciest places to rent, even amid these stats.

How average rents compare by province. Chart from Rentals.ca and Urbanation.

Outside of the nation's major metropolises, the three most expensive places to rent are North Vancouver and Coquitlam in B.C., followed by Oakville in Ontario. The average place in that city will run you about $2,892 per month.

Kanata, near Ottawa, has the highest-priced units outside of the GTA, with an average monthly price of $2,664.

Of less expensive cities, Quebec City has seen the largest spike in prices — of a whopping 14.9 per cent in December, to $1,763 across all unit types — though Oakville, the third-priciest in Canada, also saw a double-digit surge of 14.3 per cent year-over-year.

The most exorbitant Canadian city to live in as a tenant is still Vancouver, where the mean rent price is $2,882, while the cheapest is Regina, where even a three-bedroom won't run you nearly that much, and average rents are only $1,308 per month.