With apartment vacancies higher than they have been in more than 30 years, landlords in Toronto, Canada's largest real estate market, are scrambling to attract renters.
A landlords' market has suddenly become a tenants' market, and prospective tenants are finding themselves wooed by everything from an order of free pizza to three months' free rent.
The recent boom in the construction of condominium and apartment buildings has dramatically changed Toronto's real estate market in recent months.
After years of low vacancy rates - less than 1 per cent during the late 1990s - vacancies have been climbing steadily as low interest rates encouraged builders to build faster than the market could digest.
The vacancy rate in Toronto is expected to hit 4.8 per cent this year, and edge towards 6 per cent next year.
Landlords have realised they are not going to get new tenants unless they make the deal more attractive. The gift of free pizzas for new tenants on moving day is way down on the scale of enticements.
The result, said real estate market analyst Paul Fish, was that 'it's a great time to be a renter in Toronto'. Among the attractions offered by various landlords are three months' free rent, payment of moving costs, DVD players and plasma television and $500 shopping certificates.