For the average rent in Oshawa, liv.rent’s October 2026 Ontario rent report puts an unfurnished one-bedroom at $1,605 a month in asking rent, the most affordable of the GTA areas in its city breakdown. CMHC’s October 2025 survey has the Oshawa area average at $1,586 for a one-bedroom and $1,762 for a two-bedroom. We set those rents against the cost of owning a $409,000 Oshawa apartment at the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s September 2026 typical price. Rents and prices are as of publication and change after it, and the last section has the short answer on renting versus buying.
Where to rent in Oshawa: average rent by area
In CMHC’s October 2025 Rental Market Survey, Whitby has the lowest average rent of the areas in our table. Its averages are $1,525 for a one-bedroom and $1,673 for a two-bedroom. Oshawa (North) has the highest one-bedroom average, $1,639, while Oshawa (North), Oshawa (South/Central), and Clarington sit close together on two-bedrooms, from $1,777 to $1,788. These are averages by CMHC zone, not by neighbourhood. They show where rents run lower or higher across the zones, not what a particular building charges.
CMHC’s Oshawa survey area has four zones, Oshawa (North), Oshawa (South/Central), Whitby, and Clarington, plus a total row for the Oshawa area, which takes in Whitby and Clarington. CMHC measures average rent in occupied purpose-built units, many on older leases, so its averages usually sit below today’s asking rents.
The table below is from the CMHC Rental Market Survey table for the Oshawa survey area (October 2025, average rent for row and apartment units, by zone and bedroom type).
| Area (CMHC zone) | One-bedroom | Two-bedroom |
| Oshawa area total | $1,586 | $1,762 |
| Oshawa (North) | $1,639 | $1,787 |
| Oshawa (South/Central) | $1,565 | $1,777 |
| Whitby | $1,525 | $1,673 |
| Clarington | $1,608 | $1,788 |
liv.rent’s October 2026 Ontario rent report counts asking rents only, excluding units listed over $5,000 and rooms. It makes Oshawa the most affordable GTA area in its city breakdown, at an average unfurnished one-bedroom asking rent of $1,605, against $2,133 in Oakville, the highest. That’s one figure for Oshawa, not one for each CMHC zone. It sits between the Oshawa area total of $1,586 and Clarington’s $1,608 in CMHC’s October 2025 table, though the two are a year apart and use different methods. If you’d like to see what’s available now, browse the Oshawa rental listings.
Later sections use the City of Oshawa row of CMHC’s October 2025 survey instead: $1,598 for a one-bedroom and $1,780 for a two-bedroom. That’s because the apartment price is for the City of Oshawa.
How we compared buying and renting in Oshawa, October 2026
We compared owning an Oshawa apartment at the September 2026 typical apartment price with the average rents that CMHC and liv.rent report for Oshawa. We tracked each side’s net worth over 25 years. Each month, whoever pays less invests the difference. Break-even is the first year-end when selling would leave the owner’s net worth at or above the renter’s. Every city in this comparison goes through the same calculator with the same assumptions. The only things that change from place to place are four local numbers: the home price, the yearly property tax, the monthly rent, and the transfer tax. These are assumptions for comparison, not a quote or advice. We haven’t modelled mortgage qualification (the stress test).
| Assumption | What we used |
| Price data month | September 2026 |
| Rent data | CMHC Rental Market Report, October 2025 survey: average rent for occupied purpose-built apartments in the City of Oshawa (CMHC’s “Oshawa (CY)” row). liv.rent’s October 2026 asking rent is shown beside it |
| Down payment | 20%, so no mortgage insurance premium |
| Mortgage | 4.50% five-year fixed, held for the whole period; 25-year amortization |
| Closing costs | Ontario land transfer tax on the standard schedule with no exemptions, plus $3,000 for legal and inspection |
| Condo fee and insurance | $500 a month, rising 2.2% a year |
| Property tax | Oshawa’s 2026 all-in residential rate applied to the apartment price, rising 2.2% a year |
| Rent growth | 2.2% a year |
| Investment return | 4.0% a year on any money not spent on housing |
| Selling costs | 4% of the sale price |
| Home price scenarios | Flat, and 2% a year |
| Not counted | Tenant insurance, maintenance beyond the condo fee, tax on investment returns |
Oshawa’s rent source differs from liv.rent’s Metro Vancouver buy-vs-rent post, which used October 2026 asking rents. That means the month-one gaps aren’t like for like. Here we use CMHC’s October 2025 survey, because the text of liv.rent’s October 2026 Ontario rent report names Oshawa’s one-bedroom rent but states no two-bedroom figure. CMHC averages cover occupied units, many on older leases, so they usually sit below asking rents. If you’re signing a new lease, the gap shown is, if anything, wider than you’d see. In Oshawa the difference is small. liv.rent’s October 2026 one-bedroom asking rent of $1,605 is only $7 above CMHC’s October 2025 city average of $1,598, though the two are a year apart and use different methods.
The 4.50% mortgage rate is a round figure, not a quote. We compound it semi-annually and haven’t rerun the numbers at other rates. The 2.2% rent growth is also an assumption. The Ontario government’s residential rent increases page (updated June 23, 2026) sets the guideline at 2.1% for 2026 and 1.9% for 2027, so 2.2% is a round figure slightly above it. The government also says new buildings, additions and most new basement apartments occupied for the first time for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 are exempt from rent control.
What are Oshawa’s apartment price, rents and tax rate?
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) put Oshawa’s typical apartment price at $409,000 for September 2026, down 6.55% from a year earlier. For rent we used the City of Oshawa row of CMHC’s October 2025 survey: $1,598 for a one-bedroom and $1,780 for a two-bedroom. We show liv.rent’s October 2026 one-bedroom asking rent of $1,605 alongside. For property tax we used Oshawa’s 2026 all-in residential rate of 15.75342 per $1,000 of assessed value.
TRREB’s MLS Home Price Index table for September 2026 gives the $409,000 apartment reference price, against $456,900 for Durham Region apartments and $527,200 across all TRREB areas. A reference price isn’t an average of sales, and apartments sell in small numbers in Oshawa. TRREB’s Market Watch for September 2026 (dated October 6, 2026) counted seven condo apartment sales, at an average of $301,786 and a median of $300,000, so the average sits $107,214 below the reference price. That makes $409,000 a rough guide, and a cheaper unit would lower both the mortgage payment and the property tax.
CMHC’s October 2025 rental survey puts the average rent for a City of Oshawa one-bedroom at $1,598 and a two-bedroom at $1,780. The Oshawa census metropolitan area, which also takes in Whitby and Clarington, averaged $1,586 and $1,762. We used the city row because the price is for the City of Oshawa. liv.rent’s October 2026 Ontario rent report puts Oshawa’s average unfurnished one-bedroom asking rent at $1,605, the most affordable of the GTA areas in its city breakdown. Oakville’s $2,133 is the highest. The report counts asking rents only and excludes units listed over $5,000 and rooms. Neither the price nor the rents are tied to a bedroom count, so we run the one price against each rent. We treat the rents as brackets around the likely unit.
The City of Oshawa’s 2026 final residential rate is 1.575342%, or 15.75342 per $1,000 of assessed value. That breaks down as 6.59196 for the City, 7.63146 for the Region of Durham, and 1.53000 for education. The figures come from the City’s 2026 property tax rates page and its 2026 final tax rate by-law (By-law 32-2026, passed April 27, 2026). On $409,000 that works out to about $6,443 for the year, or $537 a month in month one, and we grew it by 2.2% a year.
Assessed value matters here. Ontario property tax is the combined rate multiplied by a home’s assessed value. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) says on its Assessment Cycle page that assessments for the 2026 tax year are still based on fully phased-in January 1, 2016 current values. An apartment you buy at 2026 prices can therefore be assessed below its price, and applying the rate to the price would then overstate the tax. We used the price as a stand-in for assessed value and show a zero-tax bound below. We didn’t look up the assessed value of any Oshawa apartment.
Monthly cost in Oshawa: owning costs $2,848 against rent from $1,598 to $1,780
Owning a $409,000 Oshawa apartment costs $2,848 in month one. On the September 2026 price and the October 2025 and October 2026 rents above, that’s $1,068 to $1,250 more than the rent in all three pairings. Renting costs less in month one in every pairing. Owner cost here means the mortgage payment ($1,811), property tax ($537), and the fixed $500 condo fee and insurance figure.
| Pairing | Mortgage payment | Owner cost, month one | Rent, month one | Owner cost above rent |
| Oshawa ($409,000) against CMHC one-bedroom rent (October 2025) | $1,811 | $2,848 | $1,598 | $1,250 |
| Oshawa ($409,000) against CMHC two-bedroom rent (October 2025) | $1,811 | $2,848 | $1,780 | $1,068 |
| Oshawa ($409,000) against liv.rent one-bedroom asking rent (October 2026) | $1,811 | $2,848 | $1,605 | $1,243 |
Property tax is $537 of the $2,848. With it set to zero, owner cost would be $2,311 and the gap would be $531 to $713, as the next section shows. Cash up front is the other half of the cost, and the table below shows what you’d need at the September 2026 price.
| Up-front cash | Oshawa |
| Apartment price (TRREB, September 2026) | $409,000 |
| 20% down payment | $81,800 |
| Ontario land transfer tax | $4,655 |
| Closing costs including $3,000 legal and inspection | $7,655 |
| Cash needed on day one (down payment plus closing costs) | $89,455 |
The land transfer tax follows the standard schedule on the Ontario government’s land transfer tax calculation page (updated April 22, 2026). The rates are 0.5% up to $55,000, 1% to $250,000, 1.5% to $400,000, and 2% above $400,000, with 2.5% above $2,000,000 for one or two single-family residences, which this price doesn’t reach. At $409,000 the tax is $275, plus $1,950, $2,250, and $180, or $4,655. We applied no exemptions or refunds, and the renter in our comparison invests the down payment and closing costs on day one.
If you’re an eligible first-time buyer, you can claim a refund of up to $4,000 under the Ontario government’s first-time homebuyer refund program (page updated February 10, 2026). It applies in full to homes above $368,000. On a $409,000 apartment that would cut the tax from $4,655 to $655 and closing costs from $7,655 to $3,655. Our numbers don’t apply it.
When does buying catch up with renting in Oshawa?
With property tax at the full-price figure, the calculator found no break-even within 25 years in any of the three pairings. That holds whether prices stay flat or rise 2% a year. In all three, the owner’s monthly cost stays above the rent for the whole 25 years, so the owner never has a surplus to invest.
| Pairing | Break-even, flat prices | Break-even, prices up 2% a year |
| Against CMHC one-bedroom rent (October 2025) | Not within 25 years | Not within 25 years |
| Against CMHC two-bedroom rent (October 2025) | Not within 25 years | Not within 25 years |
| Against liv.rent one-bedroom asking rent (October 2026) | Not within 25 years | Not within 25 years |
Net worth shows how far apart the two paths stay. In each cell you’ll read the owner’s figure first and the renter’s second, in dollars at the end of the year shown, on the September 2026 price.
| Pairing and price path | After five years | After 10 years | After 25 years |
| CMHC one-bedroom rent, flat | $105,370 / $189,948 | $155,251 / $307,761 | $392,640 / $800,873 |
| CMHC one-bedroom rent, up 2% a year | $146,237 / $189,948 | $241,237 / $307,761 | $644,168 / $800,873 |
| CMHC two-bedroom rent, flat | $105,370 / $177,384 | $155,251 / $278,465 | $392,640 / $684,387 |
| CMHC two-bedroom rent, up 2% a year | $146,237 / $177,384 | $241,237 / $278,465 | $644,168 / $684,387 |
| liv.rent one-bedroom rent, flat | $105,370 / $189,465 | $155,251 / $306,635 | $392,640 / $796,393 |
| liv.rent one-bedroom rent, up 2% a year | $146,237 / $189,465 | $241,237 / $306,635 | $644,168 / $796,393 |
The owner’s net worth is the same in all three pairings for a given price path, because the owner pays more than the renter every month. On the September 2026 price, that’s $392,640 after 25 years with flat prices and $644,168 with prices up 2% a year. Against CMHC’s one-bedroom rent, the renter is still ahead by $156,705 after 25 years even when prices rise 2% a year. Against CMHC’s two-bedroom rent the gap is $40,219, the closest of the six runs. The 2% column is a what-if, not a forecast, and TRREB’s index had Oshawa apartment prices down 6.55% year over year in September 2026.
How much does the property tax assumption matter in Oshawa?
The property tax assumption matters a great deal in Oshawa. With property tax set to zero, which is a bound and not a realistic figure, owner cost in month one falls from $2,848 to $2,311 on the September 2026 price. Break-even then appears in all three pairings when prices rise 2% a year, and in one pairing when prices stay flat. Real tax sits between the full-price figure and zero, depending on the unit’s assessed value, and we haven’t modelled an in-between case.
| Pairing | Owner cost above rent with tax at $0 | Break-even, flat prices | Break-even, prices up 2% a year |
| Against CMHC one-bedroom rent (October 2025) | $713 | Not within 25 years | Seventh year |
| Against CMHC two-bedroom rent (October 2025) | $531 | 20th year | Fifth year |
| Against liv.rent one-bedroom asking rent (October 2026) | $706 | Not within 25 years | Seventh year |
Even at zero tax, owning costs more than renting in month one in every pairing, by $531 to $713 on the September 2026 price. In the CMHC two-bedroom pairing with flat prices and no tax, the owner holds $413,192 after 25 years against the renter’s $361,286.
Who should consider owning in Oshawa, and what changes the answer?
On the September 2026 price and the October 2025 and October 2026 rents, renting costs less in month one in every pairing. The gap is $1,068 to $1,250 at full-price property tax and $531 to $713 with the tax set to zero. What that means for you depends on your side. As a buyer, it matters whether you can show the unit’s assessed value is well below its price. As a renter, it matters whether your asking rent is close to CMHC’s average.
Buyers come closest to the zero-tax end of the results with a long horizon, the cash to carry a gap of $531 to $1,250 in month one, and an assessed value well below the price. If you rent in Oshawa, you can lean on the CMHC-based gap. liv.rent’s October 2026 one-bedroom asking rent of $1,605 is within $7 of CMHC’s October 2025 city average, so for a one-bedroom it’s a fair guide to a new lease. If you’re a landlord thinking of buying to rent the unit out, the $2,848 monthly cost of owning is $1,243 above that $1,605 asking rent. Rent at that level wouldn’t cover the cost in month one. The calculator doesn’t treat the unit as an investment property. It leaves out rental income tax, vacancy and landlord-specific costs.
Under the Ontario government’s first-time refund program (page updated February 10, 2026), you must be at least 18 and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. You must also have never owned an eligible home, and you must move in as a principal residence within nine months of the transfer date. A spouse’s past ownership can rule out the refund, and a claim must be made within 18 months after registration. If it applies, the refund of up to $4,000 would cut the $4,655 land transfer tax on a $409,000 apartment to $655.
Several things would move the result. A cheaper unit would cut the mortgage payment and the property tax (the seven condo apartment sales in September 2026 averaged $301,786). A different price path changes break-even by years in the zero-tax table, and a different mortgage rate changes the payment. A specific building’s condo fee, assessed value and tax bill will differ from our fixed $500 and the full-price rate, and asking rents may have moved since CMHC’s October 2025 survey. That survey put the vacancy rate for the Oshawa census metropolitan area (Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington together) at 3.6%. Selling costs of 4% of the sale price also mean a short stay is expensive for an owner. This is information, not financial advice, so a mortgage broker or financial planner is the right person to run your own figures.
What to check next if you are weighing an Oshawa apartment
Our figures won’t match every apartment. The September 2026 price of $409,000, the $500 condo fee and the full-price tax rate are stand-ins for a specific apartment’s real condo fee, property tax bill and mortgage quote. The rent for the size of unit you’d live in will differ too. You can read liv.rent’s October 2026 Ontario rent report for current asking rents, and browse the Oshawa rental listings to see what’s available now.
A unit’s current property tax bill reflects the assessed value behind it, and a mortgage broker can give you a quote at your own down payment. Landlords weighing a rent increase can read liv.rent’s guide to Ontario rent increases. Earlier months are in liv.rent’s rent reports, and the guide to renting vs buying covers the wider decision.
Renting vs buying in Oshawa: the short answer
If you’re deciding between renting and buying in Oshawa, the month-one numbers favour renting. At full-price property tax, owning doesn’t catch up within 25 years in any of the three pairings we ran. Owning a $409,000 apartment (the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s September 2026 typical apartment price) costs $2,848 in month one. That’s $1,068 to $1,250 above rent of $1,598 to $1,780 (CMHC, October 2025) or $1,605 (liv.rent asking rent, October 2026).
With property tax set to zero, a bound and not a realistic figure, the month-one gap on the September 2026 price narrows to $531 to $713. Buying then breaks even in the fifth to seventh year in all three pairings if prices rise 2% a year. Owning comes closest for a buyer with a long horizon, the cash to carry a gap of $531 to $1,250 in month one, and an assessed value well below the price. This is an illustration under stated assumptions, not a forecast or advice. To see how other cities line up, read Canada’s 2026 price-to-rent ranking.
What is the average rent in Oshawa?
CMHC’s October 2025 survey put the average rent in the City of Oshawa at $1,598 for a one-bedroom and $1,780 for a two-bedroom. liv.rent‘s October 2026 Ontario rent report puts the average unfurnished one-bedroom asking rent at $1,605, the most affordable of the GTA areas in its city breakdown.
Where is rent lowest in the Oshawa area?
In CMHC’s October 2025 survey, Whitby had the lowest averages of the zones in our table, $1,525 for a one-bedroom and $1,673 for a two-bedroom. Oshawa (North) was highest for one-bedrooms at $1,639. CMHC averages cover occupied units, so they usually sit below asking rents.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Oshawa?
In liv.rent‘s September 2026 model, renting costs less in month one. Owning a $409,000 apartment costs $2,848 in month one, which is $1,068 to $1,250 above rent of $1,598 to $1,780 (CMHC, October 2025) or $1,605 (liv.rent, October 2026). At full-price property tax, owning does not catch up within 25 years.
How much money do you need to buy an apartment in Oshawa?
At the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s September 2026 typical apartment price of $409,000, a 20% down payment is $81,800. Ontario land transfer tax adds $4,655 and legal and inspection costs add $3,000, so cash needed on day one is $89,455. An eligible first-time buyer could claim a refund of up to $4,000.
How much is land transfer tax on a condo in Oshawa?
Ontario’s land transfer tax on a $409,000 purchase is $4,655, using rates of 0.5% to $55,000, 1% to $250,000, 1.5% to $400,000, and 2% above that (Ontario government page updated April 22, 2026). Our model applies only the provincial tax and no exemptions. An eligible first-time buyer could claim up to $4,000 back.
How long does it take for buying to break even with renting in Oshawa?
At full-price property tax, the calculator found no break-even within 25 years in any pairing, with prices flat or up 2% a year. With property tax set to zero, a bound and not a realistic figure, break-even arrives in the fifth to seventh year if prices rise 2% a year.
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