The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that for renters, it may feel like the years since the COVID-19 pandemic have brought one price increase after another. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says that after a 4.6-per-cent increase in the average asking price of a rental unit in 2021, monthly payments surged 12.1 per cent year-over-year in 2022. Then in 2023, asking rents increased by an average of 8.6 per cent. However, experts say the rental market across the country seems poised for a cool-down in 2025 as more supply opens up and some look to buy their first home. Whether various regions experience outright declines in rents or simply decelerate in their growth, the rapid increases of recent years are unlikely to continue in 2025. TD economist Rishi Sondhi predicts purpose-built rent growth will ease to a range of 3 to 4 per cent this year. In a forecast earlier this month, he said the effect of falling interest rates would also be felt by renters looking for a new lease -- lower borrowing costs will likely lure more people to buy a home, leading to less competition for rentals. "Falling interest rates should lower costs for landlords, reducing the pressure to pass through these costs to rents."