Airbnb Market Data in Canada, Ontario, Toronto

In any 12-month period, Toronto sees an average market supply of active Airbnb listings of 13,000. While this might not sound like a large number, remember that as a city in Canada, Toronto spends six months of the year with temperatures below 50 degrees. The weather often dictates when peak and off-peak seasons fall, so any yearly market supply average will be pulled down by the 7-month off-peak season. There could be any number of reasons why hosts choose to freeze their listing profiles. These include renovations, high costs, and low bookings. Off-peak season is undoubtedly the best time to take your property offline and do some cosmetic touch-ups in time for the peak season of May to September.

The most popular property size in any city in the world is a one-bedroom apartment, and Toronto is no exception. In fact, between 70% and 80% of the active listings in Toronto are one-bedroom apartments. This is followed by two-bedroom apartments with 10%. The property type with the lowest frequency in the Toronto market is 5+ bedroom properties. Between 65% and 80% of the properties in Toronto are ‘entire property’ listings. This means that anyone who books these properties will have them entirely to themselves. Airbnb started as a room-sharing platform and you can see traces of this in the market today. Roughly 15% to 25% of Toronto listings are ‘shared property’ listings. ‘Shared room’ listings account for less than one percent of Toronto’s vacation rentals.

Most Northern hemisphere markets take a dive in January. After the festive season has ended and schools have started up again, vacation rental bookings fall fast and thus, occupancy rates suffer. In Q1, the occupancy rate in Toronto rarely spikes above 40%. In Q2 and Q3, the occupancy rate rises and peaks between the two. In June, July, and August, the occupancy rate peaks at an impressive 95%. It decreases in Q4 before the festive season spike. Bookings increase for the festive season.

The median house price for Toronto is $800,000. As it’s not an average, it’s simply a median value. When compared to years before, the median price is down by approximately 1%. Toronto sees a rough average of 2,000 to 3,000 properties listed each month with an average ‘on market’ time of 35 days. What does ‘on market’ time tell us? Well, it shows how quickly houses sell. The faster they sell, the more in demand the area is. We use this index to assess how viable markets are for vacation rental property investment.

The Average Daily Rate is a wonderful way of ascertaining if a market performs financially or not. This average figure paired with the occupancy rate can give you a very accurate snapshot of your potential monthly earnings within that market. Toronto’s Average Daily Rate fluctuates according to the season. This is normal and happens in the vast majority of cities in Canada. In Q1, the ADR is $145. It rises in Q2 to $160 and rises again in Q3 to $180. It decreases in Q4 generally, but spikes during the festive season when you can see prices as high as $195 to $210.