Oshawa Apartment Market

Oshawa is one of the GTA’s smaller suburbs with 141,590 people but has approximately 405 rental apartment buildings containing 8,238 rental apartments. This gives Oshawa an apartment rate of 5.81 per 100 people, a high rate among large Ontario cities. It is interesting to note that Oshawa has approximately 65 more apartment buildings than Mississauga but an apartment market only 3% of the size of Mississauga (measured by total number of units). Apartment buildings in Oshawa are therefore small and approximately 77% of buildings are smaller than 20 units in size.

Vacancy Rates and Average Rents

Oshawa has a low overall vacancy rate of 4.9% and average vacancies are spread evenly across apartment styles although a bit lower for larger apartment styles. Vacancies are lowest among higher-priced apartments, suggesting depth-of-market exists for higher rents. Average rents, however, are relatively low for the GTA and range from $611 for bachelor apartments to $1,028 for 3+ bedroom apartments. Note that average rents are particularly low for bachelor and 1 bedroom apartments when compared to the GTA and Toronto. Oshawa contains a total of 837 rental townhouses which have an overall vacancy rate of 3.8%.

For Investors

Oshawa’s economy, like Windsor, is heavy dependent on the North American auto industry for employment and has experienced considerable layoffs over the last two years. However, Oshawa benefits from close proximity to Toronto so the city’s residents can work nearby without moving out of the city to find work, which explains why Oshawa’s vacancy rate is less than half that of Windsor. New apartment construction is not happening in Oshawa and has leapfrogged the city to Bowmanville. Investors will find mostly old and small apartment buildings in Oshawa and may find the city’s future a bit shaky in the short-term but long-term prospects could be positive since rent increases seem possible.