City Releases 2020 Housing Market Update

The City of Mississauga’s newly released 2020 Housing Market Update corporate report examines how the impacts of COVID-19 have changed the rental and homeownership market in Mississauga. According to the report, the demand for rental housing dropped in 2020, while the homeownership market remained resilient despite a steep decline in demand during the spring.

Mississauga’s Housing Market Update is compiled by the City’s Planning and Building Department each year. It is one of the inputs the City uses to inform policies that apply to new development.

“As we look to 2021 and beyond, a keen understanding of the housing market is essential to guiding the actions our department takes,” said Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner of Planning and Building. “Ultimately, our aim is to not only manage the impacts of the pandemic but support the community, economy and development industry going forward.”

The update contains key insights for both the rental and homeownership markets which experienced very different impacts in 2020. Highlights from the update include:

• A reduced demand for rental housing helped ease the average vacancy rate which increased to 2.4 per cent – the highest in the past 10 years.
• The average rent for an available condominium apartment in Mississauga in late-2020 was $2,113 – down 10 per cent – from the same time in 2019.
• Overall home sales remained flat – a 0.2 per cent increase from 2019 – however sales for ground-related homes increased by 7 per cent while sales for condominiums dropped by 15 per cent.
• Mississauga saw a record high average sale price – $1,413,000 – for detached homes in the month of December.

Whittemore added, “It’s clear from this update that homeownership will continue to be challenging for many families in Mississauga over the coming year despite low interest rates. The City is exploring opportunities to increase ground-related housing options in our communities as part of the City’s Official Plan Review.”

The City will also continue to protect affordable rental units from demolition or conversion through the Rental Housing Protection By-law. Despite increasing in 2020, the rental vacancy rate is still below 3 per cent and rental demand is expected to begin to improve in 2021.

The 2020 Housing Market Update was received by the City’s Planning and Development Committee on March 8 and will go to Council on March 24 for consideration.

City planning data and information is a strategic part of the Planning and Building Department. To learn more or review all the datasets, visit City Planning Data on the City’s website.

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• Housing
• Planning and Building