'renters' market' — fewer foreign students means lower rental rates, windsor landlords say
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less foreign students, and an increasing supply of rental units in the windsor area is spelling cost-of-living relief for local renters.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
less foreign students and more residential units in the local marketplace means windsor area renters are getting cost-of-living relief.
“there’s just an overwhelming inventory. it’s almost a renters’ market,” said goldmar property management owner patrice surette.
“what we’re seeing is tons of listings and they’re not moving as quickly,” adds dan gemus, co-owner of dan gemus real estate team.
the canada mortgage and housing corporation’s 2025 mid-year report on rentals points to advertised rents in decline, while occupied units are seeing their rents growing at a slower pace since october 2024.
the cmhc report attributes the decline to a reduction in the number of international students coming to canada as a result of a recent change in federal immigration policy, as well as an increase in rental unit supply.
according to rentals.ca, the average rent nationally has fallen for nine straight months. windsor saw a decline of 0.7 per cent for a one-bedroom unit last month and a 0.5 per cent reduction for a two-bedroom rental.
“there are far fewer people looking,” said goldmar’s surette, whose company oversees 1,400 local units. “may is usually a busy month and it was surprisingly slow.
surette describes the past year not so much as a price decline as a market adjustment.
“maybe the market was overly inflated, but the market is coming back to where the rents should be,” surette told the star. “it’s great for tenants.
“they have more choices. landlords are having to be more competitive. there’s a fight for quality tenants.”
surette said rents for one-bedroom units can range from $1,300 for older buildings to $1,700 for newer buildings. similarly, two-bedroom units range from $1,300 up to $2,000.
“there’s a real blend in the market,” surette said. ‘there isn’t the delineation there used to be where two-bedroom rents started where one-bed units left off. “there’s more overlapping of prices based on amenities, size, buildings being new, and location.”
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the local vacancy rate entering 2025 was 3.3 per cent.
according to the cmhc report, ‘the impact of slower international migration is observed in the recent decline in advertised rents. after peaking around mid-2023, advertised rents fell more in cmas most exposed to such changes.’
“the largest impact on the local rental market is that there aren’t as many international students,” gemus told the star.
he said the federal government’s limits on the number foreign students/immigrants has forced landlords to change their strategies. instead of renting several rooms to individuals in a property generating a larger income stream, often a family now is the only resident paying a lower total rent.
“there’s a large number of vacancies and that is causing some concern,” gemus said. “it’s causing prices to come down.
“some landlords are offering perks to renters, things like free internet or including utilities. some are giving $100 credits for cutting the grass at a rental or other maintenance work.
“units are getting more renovations to make them more attractive to renters.”
affordability continues to be a key driver in a renter’s decision-making, said gemus. it’s resulted in many opting for one-bedroom units.
“two-bedrooms aren’t renting as quickly as one-bedrooms,” gemus said. “i blame that on affordability.”
surette said many of those units searching for tenants are located around the university of windsor and st. clair college campuses. the university is also opening a new 238-unit student residence, rodzik hall, in september.
“there’s also been a lot of new buildings added to the market,” surette said. “many are condos for purchase, but they’re being rented out too.
“tecumseh has got a bunch. there are several buildings near the wfcu centre and forest glade.
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“you add that to the reduction of student rentals and it adds up to a big pool.”
both surette and gemus expect the current trends to continue for the balance of 2025, especially with the uncertainty hanging over the region because of u.s. tariff threats.
“investors couldn’t wait to invest in windsor, but they’re hesitant to buy into the rental market right now,” surette said.
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