Want to know what going on in the rental property market?
Rent.com.au's report for July 2018 illustrates the shift in Australian median rental property prices (both metro and regional) and rental affordability (the median room price metric).
Report Highlights:
- Year-on-year, houses in Sydney have slowed more significantly than in any other capital: It took 27 days on average to move a house in July, 22% slower than in July 2017.
- Canberra metro was the only state capital to see median rents fall across both property types in July.
- Six out of eight state/territory capitals now have median rents (houses) above $400/week.
- The most significant rise in the cost of rooms (apartments) was in Hobart, up 20% year-on-year to $240/week.
Median rents
Across Australia’s states and territories, rents remained flat in July 2018.
Canberra metro was the only Australian capital to record a decrease in the median rent across all property types, with a 5.6% fall in apartment prices to $420 a week, and a 5.7% fall to $500 a week for houses.
Six out of eight capitals are now seeing median rents above $400 a week (houses) - just Perth and Adelaide have maintained cheaper prices.
Sydney rents are still high (no great surprise) but cooling demand could be behind the stabilising cost of some property types.
Apartment median rents for Sydney metro came down 1.8% in July to $540 a week, while house prices remained unchanged for the seventh consecutive month.
Price per room
Renters looking to score a good deal on an apartment would have found their best options in Darwin in July (just $155 a week for a room), against $115 a week in Perth for a room in a house.
Nationally, Perth was the shared accommodation bargain at just $123 a week for all property types, closely followed by Adelaide ($133 a week) and Darwin ($156 a week).
The metric also showed that Sydney once again outranked all other state/territory capitals at $270 a week for a single room (national price per room).
Regional rents
Median rents across Australia's regional areas remained mostly stable in July, consistent with data from June.
The only fall in regional prices this month was in the Northern Territory, down 8.3% to $440 a week.
Properties in the NT’s regions are still yielding high rental amounts with the weekly price unchanged at $400/week.
For renters, this means no relief in sight as the territory remains the most unaffordable of all capitals.
Prices rose in the regions in just two states/territories: Western Australia (up 3.1%) and Tasmania (up 5.3%).
Days on market
Most significant slowdown in Darwin, with a 21% increase in time on market month-on-month to 39 days for apartments.
Year-on-year, houses moved 22% slower in Sydney, taking some 27 days to move on average.
Trends were different in Hobart, which saw houses move 14.2% faster month-on-month, taking just 18 days to shift in July.
Sydney rental market
Sydney’s rental market remained stable in July.
Median weekly house rents were consistent month-on-month at $600 a week.
However, the NSW capital saw a 1.8% decrease in apartment prices year-on-year, now $540 a week.
Melbourne rental market
Melbourne’s median apartment price rose 2.5% between July ’17 and ’18, now $410 a week.
Melbourne house prices were also on the rise; up 2.4% to $420 a week.
Apartments in the metro area moved faster yearon-year, recording an 5% improvement to take 20 days on average to lease.
Brisbane rental market
Brisbane’s median house price jumped 2.4% year-onyear to reach $420 a week in July 2018.
Median apartment prices, however, were stable at $400 a week for the second July running.
Perth rental market
Perth’s apartment and house growth jumped annually with a 3.2% increase for apartments to $320 a week, and a 1.4% jump for houses (now $360 a week).
The WA capital remains the most affordable city for sharehousers with prices falling nationally to $123 a week Perth’s apartment and house growth jumped annually with a 3.2% increase for apartments to $320 a week, and a 1.4% jump for houses (now $360 a week).
The WA capital remains the most affordable city for sharehousers with prices falling nationally to $123 a week.
Adelaide rental market
Over in Adelaide, median weekly house rents picked up 7.1% year-on-year in July to $375 a week.
Similarly, apartment median rents jumped annually by 7.1% to $300 a week.
Adelaide apartments and houses recorded the lowest regional median rent year-on-year of all states and territories.
Hobart rental market
Some interesting changes are evident when comparing the 12-month change in Hobart.
Median house rents were up 12.5% to $450 a week, while houses picked up by 6.2% to $340 a week, indicative of the ongoing affordability issues in the Tasmanian capital.
Darwin rental market
Darwin houses moved 22% faster when compared to July last year, taking 35 days to shift on average.
The NT capital saw a 3% decrease in house prices year-on-year, now $480 a week.
Apartment prices, however, jumped 4.1% to $380 in July 2018.
Canberra rental market
In Canberra, median house rents were up 2% to $500 a week year-on-year, while houses remained stable at $420 a week.
Nationally, Canberra recorded a sizeable jump in its price per room (apartments), up 13.3% to $340 a week.