The latest rental data from CoreLogic reveals that apartment rents across Sydney and Melbourne have been hammered since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, falling by 4.2% and 4.4% respectively between March and August:
CoreLogic’s head of research, Eliza Owen, has released additional data showing that properties closer to the city are more likely to see a decline in rent values, due mostly to their higher reliance on immigration (including international students):
The onset of COVID-19 may be creating a two-speed rental market, with inner-city rents declining faster than those in the outer suburbs. CoreLogic data confirms that there is a positive correlation between changes in rent values and distance to the CBD. This means that the closer a region is to the CBD, the more likely it is that rent values have fallen.
