When it comes to the nation’s most expensive capital city to rent a house, Sydney takes second place in what may come as a surprise to some, with Canberra crowned as Australia’s most expensive capital.
While Domain’s rental report shows Canberra remains as the nation’s most expensive capital to rent a house, it also shows it’s more expensive to rent a house in Hobart than Melbourne.
The latest report, which covers the median rental price for houses and units across the country, shows Melbourne house rents remained unchanged over the year at $430 per week, while unit rents increased 2.4 per cent over the year.
Taking in the unit market, despite Sydney’s price falls of almost 5 per cent over the year the harbour city is still the most expensive capital city to rent a unit.
Strong construction of new housing has weighed on rents in Sydney, and also contributed to the vacancy rate increasing to 3.2 per cent in June, up from 2.4 per cent one year ago, Domain’s Economist Trent Wiltshere says.
House rents fell by 3.6 per cent over the year to $530 per week.
While unit rents dropped by 0.9 per cent in the quarter and 4.5 per cent over the year.
“Rents held up the best on the Central Coast and on Sydney’s north shore, but fell in other Sydney regions,” the Domain report notes.
While largely thanks to the significant property price falls over the past few years, Sydney’s rental yields have risen slightly.
Melbourne’s strong population growth since 2013, averaging an annual 2.6 per cent, has seen ongoing rental demand.
House rents grew fastest in the Mornington Peninsula and in Melbourne’s inner-south, but were unchanged in Melbourne’s eastern suburb, for the past year.
Melbourne’s unit rents have increased by 2.4 per cent over the year.
While rent on a typical unit has increased 14 per cent over the past five years to $420, despite the city’s apartment construction boom during this time.
Melbourne’s house rents have also increased 13 per cent during this period.
Domain says unit rentals have held steady in recent years, despite the large supply of new Brisbane apartments.
“House rents were steady in most parts of Brisbane over the past 12-months, but unit rents increased 6 per cent in the inner city.”
Unit rents also increased by 2 per cent on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.
And while rental prices for houses across Greater Brisbanerecorded falls in the June quarter, rental prices have remained unchanged year-on-year.
Brisbane’s rental vacancy rate fell from 2.6 per cent to 2.2 per cent over the past year, a sign of a strengthening rental market, Wiltshere says.
House rents in Adelaide dropped 1 per cent in the June quarter, but have recorded an increase of 2.7 per cent over the year.
Adelaide’s unit rentals have increased by 1.7 per cent over the year, with the typical unit renting for around $305 a week, this makes Adelaide the cheapest across all capitals.
Hobart remains the fourth most expensive city to rent a house behind Canberra and Sydney, according to Domain’s report.
Canberra house rents dropped 3.5 per cent in the June quarter, but are unchanged over the year at $550 per week. Unit rents increased by 4.4 per cent over the year, sitting at $470.
Canberra unit rents have increased a staggering 18 per cent over the past three years, despite an apartment construction boom.
And Darwin rents for houses have now dropped from the 2014 highs of $700 a week to $490. Darwin units have dropped over the past five years from $570 to $385, reflecting declining demand as the city’s population decreases.
Perth remains the most affordable capital city to rent a house in Australia at $365 a week. Rental prices for both Perth houses (up 4.3 per cent) and units (up 3.3 per cent) have increased over the past year.
Source: theurbandeveloper.com
