RP Data has released its latest rental market report, which has registered zero rental growth across all dwellings in the year to January, with house rents actually declining by 0.3% across the combined capitals, with a nasty downward trend:
Dwelling rental rates across the combined capital cities are recorded at $443 per week and they are unchanged over the past year. CoreLogic RP Data have been tracking annual rental changes since 1996 and over that time rental growth conditions have never been weaker. At the same time last year rental rates had increased by 1.7% highlighting that the slowdown in rental conditions has been sharp over the year. As highlighted in previous reports, heightened construction activity, slowing population growth, higher than normal investment activity and stagnant wage growth are key contributors to unchanged rental rates over the past year. More rental stock at a time when demand is easing due to slowing population growth and little wage growth for renters has resulted in flat rental conditions over the past year. For renters there are a lot more accommodation options in the market while landlords are having to respond to a more competitive environment which, in many cases means keeping rents steady to keep the tenants…
Over the past year, house rents are -0.3% lower while unit rents have increased by 1.5%…
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Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
