NEWS RELEASE
COUNTY OF SIMCOE
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The County of Simcoe has launched a rental market aggregator dashboard, a powerful new tool designed to provide real-time insights into the rental market across all communities in the region.
This dashboard will allow residents across Simcoe County to discover meaningful trends in the rental market to best inform themselves when making critical decisions.
“The launch of the rental market aggregator dashboard marks another significant milestone for Simcoe County,” said Warden Basil Clarke. “This innovative tool empowers our residents with real-time, comprehensive insights into the rental market, bridging critical data gaps, especially in our rural communities. This initiative not only enhances transparency within the rental market, but it also supports the overall economic well-being of our entire region.”
Developed in partnership with the Rural Ontario Institute, the dashboard aggregates rental advertisement data, offering up-to-date information on asking prices for one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. This initiative helps fill a critical data gap, especially in rural areas in Simcoe County where traditional sources like the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation may not provide as detailed information.
Some of the key features of the dashboard include offering real-time data, historical trends, and market affordability. Users of the dashboard can receive a current, comprehensive picture of the rental market, track how rental prices have evolved over time to get a better understanding of price fluctuations, and gain insights into the affordability of rental units across different communities.
The data collected is aggregated from various rental advertisements across multiple platforms. This is done in collaboration with the Rural Ontario Institute. This provides asking rents across the county but does not indicate affordability for residents who are already in the rental system. This will enable newcomers, students and others to better assess rental prices in our communities, and to allow landlords to price units commensurate with other offerings.
If you have any questions or concerns about the specifics of the dashboard, please connect with the social and community, BI and policy unit at [email protected].
The dashboard itself is now live and can be accessed at open.simcoe.ca.
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