Rents hit record highs in the country’s combined capitals, according to Domain’s Quarterly Rent Report, with Canberra still the most expensive city for homes and units.
The average weekly rent for a home in the country’s capital was $690 per week, while Brisbane had the largest annual increase at 16.9 percent, bringing the cost to $520.
This was the strongest annual increase in the city’s history, attributed to young families moving to Greater Brisbane during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melbourne continued to be the most affordable city to rent a home, at $460 a week after rising 2.2 percent in the June quarter.
Due to the affordability of houses, the demand for units shifted, causing rents to rise every quarter faster than those for houses.
Rental housing in Canberra was the most expensive at $550 a week, up 10 percent year on year.
Adelaide was the most affordable city to rent a unit, at $380 a week, an increase of 2.7 percent.
Domain’s head of economics and research, Nicola Powell, said several factors had increased demand for rental housing across Australia.
“The numbers we are seeing are the result of a combination of high purchase prices that are keeping people in the rental market longer, higher mortgage costs being passed on to tenants, weaker investment activity in 2019/20 and fewer building completions,” said Dr. Powell.
She said other factors included “greater family formation, investors taking advantage of the recent price hike, and rent demand fueled by the return of international students and foreign migration.”
The acting director of Anglicare Australia, Maiy Azize, said the rental crisis would only worsen if the government did not intervene.
“The market is at a peak and people are struggling to keep up. Anglicare agencies are seeing full-time employees sleeping in their cars and retirees struggling to find rooms in shared homes,” Ms Azize told AAP.
“The best way to tackle this crisis is to build affordable rental housing. (We) call for 25,000 new social and affordable rental housing to be built every year over the next two decades. We also want reforms that end unfair rent increases and the rent safer.”
The report notes that rent affordability has improved in select suburbs, including Birmingham Gardens (NSW), MacLeod (Vic) and Middleton (SA).
MEDIA WEEKLY RENTAL RATES PER CAPITAL:
Sydney – House: $620, Unit: $525
Melbourne – House: $460, Unit: $410
Brisbane – house: $520, unit: $450
Adelaide – House: $480, Unit: $380
Canberra – House: $690, Unit: $550
Perth – House: $495, Unit: $400
Hobart – House: $540, Unit: $450
Darwin – House: $600, Unit: $480
Source: Quarterly Domain Rental Report