Toronto's rental scene has been pretty grim this year, with prices skyrocketing to new record highs amid peak demand, and more landlords offering shared bedrooms and even shared beds to tenants on a budget.

As much as the city's unreasonable rents have antagonized residents and contributed greatly to a cost of living crisis, it seems that prices are finally easing somewhat — albeit slowly — instead of surging higher.

But, based on the latest numbers, this only applies to certain units.

Having to share bedrooms with strangers is the new thing due to Toronto's unaffordability https://t.co/WNjB5kr1AT #Toronto #RealEstate

— blogTO (@blogTO) August 20, 2023

The latest National Rent Report from listing platform Rentals.ca and real estate research firm Urbanation shows that the average rate for an apartment in Canada's largest city is $2,913 for all unit types as of November, which is a welcome decrease of 2.4 per cent from the same time last year, something that the group calls "a notable slowdown."

The typical one-bedroom unit specifically is now $2,594, which is a 2 per cent less than November 2022's price, and 0.5 per cent lower than it was this past October.

Two-bedroom units in the city, meanwhile, have gotten a bit more expensive, rising 1.5 per cent from this time last year and 0.8 per cent from the month prior to hit $3,450, on average.

Toronto-area cities dominate the latest list of the most expensive places to rent in Canada. Chart from Rentals.ca and Urbanation's December 2023 National Rent Report.

For those sharing a space with roommates, prices have also unfortunately spiked slightly in Toronto, from $1,312 in October to $1,322 last month.

It's a segment of the market that has been inflating excessively across the country this year as tenants seek cheaper options and landlords try to rent out more of their homes — often converting living rooms to makeshift bedrooms — to cover higher mortgage expenses.

As the report notes, "average asking rents for shared accommodations in B.C, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec grew 16.2 per cent over the past year to a record high of $960."

Across the province, asking rents for roommate rentals have climbed 10.6 per cent from a year ago, now sitting around $1,067.

November also marked another month where Toronto was booted from its long-time spot of the second (or, at times, top) most expensive city in which to rent in all of Canada, beat out by both Vancouver and Burnaby.

How Canada's average rent prices have escalated over the last few years. Graph from Rentals.ca and Urbanation's December 2023 National Rent Report.

Close on the city's heels is Oakville, where it is now $2,532 for a one-bedroom unit and $3,332 for a two-bedroom, but up double-digit percentages from the same time last year. The top 10 nationwide is largely populated with GTA cities, including Mississauga, North York, Etobicoke, Burlington, Scarborough, and Brampton.

Despite prices easing somewhat in both Vancouver and Toronto, notoriously the nation's priciest cities to rent in, the average rent in Canada overall shot up 8.4 per cent last month compared to the same time last year, reaching $2,174 across all unit sizes and locales.

It is worth noting that the data only includes purpose-built apartment and condo rentals listed on the platform, not units in houses.