Well for starters, in many parts of the city over the past two years, the demand for quality rentals has been high. So high in fact, that often you would expect multiple applicants on available units.

The baffling part is that most of the small mom and pop rental housing being provided is through the glass towers in the sky. Yes, those same glass towers that people kept screaming were being overbuilt!

Demand is high, supply is low (obvious from multiple applicants placing offers) which has led to many very happy landlords. But the party may be coming to an end.

Just like trying to purchase a home or condo, affordability is starting to hit the rental market. Yikes!!

According to Urbanation, who are a real estate consultancy whom mainly advise the development industry, we have some financial challenges rearing its head on the rental side.

With an average income of $65,000, today’s renters after taxes, deductions etc is spending on average 58% of their pay. Ouch.

Okay seriously, when do we start to wake the f&*@ up and realize that an entire generation(s), are being royally screwed when it comes to housing?!

I don’t care where you lean politically, but if people cannot afford to buy or rent, in the places they work and play, they will find somewhere else to do so. No wonder those young ladies that solicited two police officers to act as Uber drivers and take them from one bar to another did so. Who can afford a Lyft with the high cost of housing these days?! Read all about it here

With average rents hovering around $2400/month, how does one pay for housing, and with the remaining 42% of their earned income, set aside money for retirement, living expenses, charity donations etc? The simple answer is they can’t.

Maybe it’s time we turn the notion of senior discounting on it’s head? Eliminate some of the subsidies and discounts that apply to anyone above the age 40, and allow anyone aged 22-39 discounts on pretty much everything. Because they need it. And we need them. And trust me, you need them more than you think.

It looks like more supply is about to come to market and curb rental rate growth in 2019. Will it be too late? I for one have seen the first time buyer market almost come to a halt in my real estate practice. Renting is the only option, and one that is increasingly becoming a non guaranteed second option.

Maybe we will start to see downtown tiny condos with multiple roommates like Manhattan has been known for? Or a push back to rental apartment building living on the outskirts of downtown and trendy neighbourhoods? This is assuming our young people stay, and work and play where we need them. Which is right here, in Toronto.