Rental squeeze hits in Australian capital cities

Sonja Koremans | News.com.au | January 20, 2012

http://www.news.com.au/money/property/rental-squeeze-hits-in-australian-capital-cities/story-e6frfmd0-1226249371833

 

Landlords are cashing in on Australia's ruinous housing affordability and buyer caution, with median rents hitting record highs.

Darwin and Sydney rounded out the top two most expensive cities with median rents of $505 and $480 a week each, compared with the national average of $411 a week, according to an Australian Property Monitors report.

 

The data for the September quarter shows rents for houses rose to record highs in Sydney and Canberra clocking a median of $500 per week, and similarly in Perth to $400 and $380 in Brisbane.

 

For the year, housing rents in Canberra rose 6.4 per cent, in Perth 5.3 per cent and Sydney 4.2 per cent.

 

Darwin outstripped Sydney as the most expensive city to rent a house. The Top End's capital costs tenants $550 a week for a housing rental - $50 more than Sydney and $140 higher than Melbourne.

 

And the average rent for a Darwin unit is $460 - sharing top spot with Sydney.

 

APM senior economist Andrew Wilson said the sky-high rents reflected a lack of housing supply and showed that landlords were cashing in on people's reluctance to buy property because of the global economic uncertainty.

 

"Increasing competition for properties, particularly from homebuyers unable or unwilling to enter the property market, has resulted in rising rental prices," Dr Wilson said.

 

"After flat results over the previous two quarters, landlords have capitalised on the high competition in the marketplace, and are charging a premium for their properties."

 

Unit rents continued to rise over the three months to December across all capital cities except Melbourne and Perth, which were flat for the quarter.

 

Nationwide house rents were up 1.7 per cent over the year, while rents on units outpaced houses, rising 4.1 per cent for the year.

 

Dr Wilson said higher rental increases for units compared to houses reflected a growing lifestyle choice for more affordable inner-city dwellings close to infrastructure.

 

In Melbourne, rents on houses were flat over the three months to December and fell 1.4 per cent last year.

 

Also dropping were rents on Hobart houses, which were flat over the quarter and fell 3 per cent over the year.

 

Adelaide’s rental market picked up during the last three months of the year, with median rents on houses rising 1.5 per cent to $340.

 

WEEKLY HOUSE RENTS

 

Darwin $550

 

Sydney $500

 

Canberra $500

 

Perth $400

 

Brisbane $380

 

Melbourne $360

 

Adelaide $340

 

Hobart $320

 

WEEKLY UNIT RENTS

 

Darwin $460

 

Sydney $460

 

Canberra $440

 

Brisbane $365

 

Melbourne $350

 

Perth $350

 

Adelaide $280

 

Hobart $258