Property leasing data released by Rent.com.au for June 2018 illustrates the shift in Australian median rental property prices (both metro and regional) and rental affordability (the median room price metric).

Report Highlights:

  • Sydney’s median house rent has now been stable at $600 a week for six months running, after the last drop of 3.2% from $620 a week.
  • Melbourne’s apartment prices were up for the first time since February, rising 2.5% to $410 a week.
  • For the third year running, Brisbane apartment room prices increased in June, up 7.7% to $237 a week.
  • Houses are on the market for the least amount of time in Hobart, just 15.2 days.
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How the states and territories compared in June 2018
Median rent (apartments v houses) and price per room
SOURCE: RENT.COM.AU © 2018

Metro area Apartments % change Houses % change Price per room % change
SYDNEY $550 0% $600 0% $275 ↑0.6%
MELBOURNE $410 ↑2.5% $420 0% $173 ↑1.7%
BRISBANE $400 ↑1.3% $420 0% $160 ↑4.3%
PERTH $325 ↑3.2% $355 ↑1.4% $120 0%
ADELAIDE $295 ↓1.7% $370 0% $130 ↓3.7%
HOBART $330 ↓5.7% $425 ↓1.2% $159 ↓4.7%
DARWIN $355 ↓4.1% $490 ↑2.1% $163 ↑5.1%
CANBERRA $440 ↑2.3% $530 ↑1.9% $183 ↓10.7%
National median $450 0% $430 0% $183 1.6%

PRICE TRENDS

Median Rents

New figures from Rent.com.au show that Sydney’s median rent across all property types is stable – the sixth straight month unchanged. The NSW capital’s median rents are high (still no real surprise) but cooling demand could be behind the stabilising costs.
Apartment and house median rents were flat in June, unchanged from May at $550 and $600 a week accordingly.

Rent.com.au Chief Executive Officer, Greg Bader said while Sydneysiders are still paying the highest weekly rents in the country, the pace of house rent rises has eased to maintain prices over past six months, while places like Perth are starting to see a surge in the price of apartments and houses.

“From an investors perspective, slowing rental growth means they will need to find new ways to differentiate their properties from others,” he said. “The boom phase of the market is fading, and it’s likely down to first-home buyer incentives and a deluge of new apartments on the market.”

Price per room

Renters looking to score a good deal on an apartment would have found their best options in Adelaide (just $151 a week for a room), against $116 a week for a room in a house.

Nationally, Perth was the shared accommodation bargain at just $120 a week for all property types, closely followed by Adelaide ($130 a week) and Hobart ($159 a week).

The metric also showed that Sydney once again outranked all other state/territory capitals at $275 a week for a single room (national price per room).

Price per room year-on-year
Apartments v Houses
SOURCE: RENT.COM.AU © 2018

Metro area Apartments % change from June 2017 Houses % change from June 2017
SYDNEY $310 ↓6.1% $195 ↓4.1%
MELBOURNE $263 ↑5.2% $136 ↑2%
BRISBANE $237 ↑7.7% $137 ↑3%
PERTH $190 ↑1.3% $116 ↑4.5%
ADELAIDE $151 ↑0.7% $116 ↓3.3%
HOBART $172 ↓14% $157 ↑18%
DARWIN $207 ↑11.8% $136 ↓9.3%
CANBERRA $310 ↑10.7% $162 ↑3.1%
National median $272 2.6% $145 4.8%

Days on Market

Rent.com.au’s average days on market measure provides context to the movement in asking rents. Days on market in Darwin improved significantly in June, taking 17% less time to move an apartment than 12 months prior in June 2017.

Trends were similar in Brisbane, where houses shifted quicker under a wave of continued rental demand, improving to 23.7 days. Houses in Brisbane also moved 13% faster (23.7 days). Mr Bader said this movement across several capitals was indicative of healthy leasing activity prompting increased demand. “With leasing activity increasing, these markets are starting to re-balance, which is good news for owners,” he said.

Days on market
% change in no. days on market (Apartments v Houses)
SOURCE: RENT.COM.AU © 2018

Metro area APARTMENTS days on market % change from May % change from June 2017 HOUSES days on market % change from May % change from June 2017
SYDNEY 25.1 9% slower 25% slower 26 4% slower 18% slower
MELBOURNE 19.3 1% slower 8% faster 23.1 5% slower 1% slower
BRISBANE 23.7 13% faster 16% faster 23.7 9% faster 14% faster
PERTH 39.1 0.2% slower 13% faster 36 2% faster 16% faster
ADELAIDE 28 14% slower 6% faster 23.8 5% faster 18% faster
HOBART 15.7 12% faster 2% faster 21.5 9% slower 8% slower
DARWIN 35.4 17% faster 20% faster 33.3 2% faster 18% faster
CANBERRA 15.8 6% slower 23% faster 19.2 1% slower 13% faster
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