It just keeps getting more expensive to live in Canada, and though the average price of a rental has risen year-over-year both nationwide and in the country's economic heart of the Greater Toronto Area, it actually got cheaper to rent a home last month. At least in some parts of the region.

According to the latest National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research & Consulting, the average price of a Canadian rental was $1,789 per month in December, a 3.8 per cent increase year-over-year, but a decline of 1.5 per cent from the previous month.

It was much the same story here in Toronto, where the year-over-year average monthly rent was up 9.2 per cent (one bedroom) and 11.6 per cent (two bedroom) in December, while the month-over-month measurement showed declines of 1.4 and 2 per cent respectively.

The latest National Rent Report by @Rentalsdotca is out. Rents declined nationally in December, a sign of things to come with Omicron, or the normal seasonal decline? Have a read: https://t.co/l480SXEXre #ToRE #VanRE w/ analysis by @BullpenConsult pic.twitter.com/BaFNzB4rbv

— Big Ben Myers 🐂✒️ (@benmyers29) January 14, 2022

It'll now cost you an overall average of $2,266 per month for a rental unit in Toronto, $2,013 for a one-bedroom and $2,715 for a two-bedroom, just a bit cheaper than the November averages.

But these changes haven't affected Toronto's position in the rankings for the most expensive places to rent. Of the 35 cities and areas of cities ranked for the highest one-bedroom rents in December, eight of the top 11 were within the GTA. And in some areas of the city, it hasn't gotten any more affordable to rent a place to live.

Toronto's downtown core experienced the highest annual growth in average rent, with a range from as little as 2.4 per cent all the way up to 25 per cent. Other notable areas with rising average rents include the downtown west and Yonge-Bloor areas.

One surprise has Toronto placed behind Vancouver, Oakville, and Vaughan for the fourth-most expensive rental market in the country.

Oakville is Canada's second-most expensive rental market with an overall average rent of $2,473 per month, rising 9.9 per cent from its December 2020 average.

"Average rental rates moderated in December after rents surged following the April market bottom, where rents had fallen by over 9 per cent annually," says Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting.

Though Myers thinks it's still far too early to determine whether the Omicron variant will "have a prolonged deflationary impact on the rental market," he says that Bullpen still believes we will see "significant upward growth in rents in 2022 in Canada's major markets."