Rental market holds steady with a standout exception

It also found that six of eight capitals are now seeing median rents above $400 a week for houses, with only Perth and Adelaide maintaining cheaper prices.

Unsurprisingly, Sydney rents are still high, although apartment median rents for Sydney metro came down 1.8 per cent in July to $540 a week. House prices remained in the famous city, unchanged for the seventh consecutive month.

Rent.com.au CEO Greg Bader said this was having the effect of creating both a buyer’s and a renter’s market.

“The pace is changing for NSW,” he said.

“The cooling sales market in Sydney is putting pressure on landlords to consider stabilising or even reducing their rent.”

Falls

Price trends show a generally flat report card to July 2018, with only Canberra recording decreases. It had a 5.6 per cent fall in apartment prices to $420 a week, and a 5.7 per cent fall to $500 a week for houses.

Property manager with LJ Hooker in Woden, Leah Bates, said July has showed the market for re-letting has slowed dramatically, indicating more tenants are wanting to secure their current rental for a further fixed term.

“Out of nine properties leased this month at LJ Hooker Woden, eight have been new business properties and only one has been a re-let,” she said.

“We’re still experiencing a high volume of applicants; it has become a very competitive market.

Property manager with Cornerstone NewActon, Tori Russell, added that there has been a rise in the price of one bedroom apartments within the city.
She said this was especially so in the NewActon area where they averaged $450 a week.

“Though our apartment prices have risen, we’ve seen a growing demand in the area for renters, with apartment listings being rented within the first week,” she said.

Top end

Mr Bader said 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 at $133 a week and Darwin at $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,” said Mr Bader.

The report also provided a year-on-year territory breakdown, comparing July 2017 to July 2018. 

Sydney

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 per cent decrease in apartment prices year-on-year, which are now at $540 a week.

Melbourne

Melbourne’s median apartment price rose 2.5 per cent between July 2017 and 2018, and is now at $410 a week.

Melbourne house prices are also on the rise, up 2.4 per cent to $420 a week. Apartments in the metro area moved faster year on-year, recording a 5 per cent improvement to 20 days on average to lease.

Brisbane

Brisbane’s median house price jumped 2.4 per cent year-on year to reach $420 a week in July 2018.

Median apartment prices are stable at $400 a week for the second July running.

Perth

Perth’s apartment and house growth jumped annually with a 3.2 per cent increase for apartments to $320 a week, and a 1.4 per cent jump for houses – which are now at $360 a week.

The WA capital remains the most affordable city for sharehousers with prices falling nationally to $123 a week.

Adelaide

Median weekly house rents picked up 7.1 per cent year-on-year in July to $375 a week.

Similarly, apartment median rents jumped annually by 7.1 per cent to $300 a week. Adelaide apartments and houses recorded the lowest regional median rent year-on-year of all states and territories.

Hobart

Median house rents were up 12.5 per cent to $450 a week, while houses picked up by 6.2 per cent to $340 a week.

Darwin

Darwin houses moved 22 per cent faster than July last year, taking 35 days to shift on average.

The NT capital saw a 3 per cent decrease in house prices year-on-year, now $480 a week. Apartment prices jumped 4.1 per cent to $380 in July 2018.

Canberra

Median house rents were up 2 per cent 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 for apartments, up 13.3 per cent to $340 a week.