Is the competitive rental market pushing Torontonians out of the city?

Rising housing and rent prices and the use of services like Airbnb for short-term rentals have made renting in the city a lot tougher, according totwo Torontonians who feel like they've been pushed out of the city they love.

"There aren't a lot of options when it comes to renting," Lori Johnston, a therapist who is considering leaving Toronto for a more affordable community, told CBC's Metro Morning.

"It's a very, very difficult job to try to find a place because there's so few and the ones that are available are veryexpensive."

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The apartment vacancy rate inToronto is around1.6per cent, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Factoring in the number of units that are being used for short-term rentals like Airbnb,that number drops even lower, according toToronto realtor and property coachAlexandra Cote.

The result? A highly competitive rental market and desperate bids on apartments and homes that have little to offer.

That's what drove Andrea Bradley and her family to move to Oakville.

Bradleyand her husband, whois a teacher,are now renting a townhouse for the same price as a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto.

"It's pretty disappointing. I've been there for 10 years," she said Thursday onMetro Morning. "I thought I was going to raise my family there."

The only way Bradley and her family of four would be able to rent a home or apartment in Toronto, she said, is if they settled on a place so far from the subwayline that "they might as well be in the suburbs."

Average rent for one-bedroom condo is $1,789

Cotesaidrenting is becoming so competitivein the city that bidding wars are slowly becoming the norm for rental units.

The average rent, according to Cote, is $1,789 per month for a one-bedroom condo in central Toronto.

Cote said she had 20 showings over a period of 48 hours for a unit she recently listed that waslocated close to Lake Shore Boulevardand BathurstStreet.The unit was a 450-square-footstudio condo with no balcony or parking.

"Irented the same unit last year around the same time and we probably had thenumber of showings but over twoweeks," she told Metro Morning on Wednesday.

Four people were interested in putting an offer on the unit this year compared to just one offer last year, Cote added.

Evicted for Airbnb

Johnston shared a story withMetro Morningabout her recent eviction from an apartment she lived in for five years in Parkdale.

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"Without much notice my landlord gave me an eviction notice. Her message was that she wanted to take back the unit for her own personal use, which is perfectly understandable," Johnston said.

"Ironically and shockingly she sent me an email with her posting of my old apartment on Airbnb asking me if I would help her market it."

Johnston said she knew about her rights as a tenant but she had never gone through this particular experience.

Toronto's loss?

Both Johnston and Bradley saidToronto is at risk of losing talentedyoung people because it's so un-affordable.

"I've had friends move to Hamilton, Guelph.These are artists and writers and those communities are thriving," Johnston said. "All of those places are gaining and Toronto is losing."

Bradley also said she is seeing surroundingcommunities prosper because people prefer to live there instead of Toronto.

"I think Oakville is changing a lot.My street is extremely diverse.There's restaurants opening up around us that wouldn't have existed before," she said. "Other communities are gaining what Toronto is losing."