Limited vacancies and rising rents spur strong competition
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Australian renters are likely to feel the sting in 2022 as limited vacancies spur strong competition for housing.
The cost of renting the median house in Australia has spiked 10.1%, or $47 per week, over the past 12 months to $515, according to data from CoreLogic. Units, meanwhile, increased $32 per week, or 7.5%.
The rent hikes coincide with the number of available homes plummeting 17% year over year, hitting their lowest level since 2004, according to a report by The Australian.
That lack of options has caused the average number of engaged renters looking for properties to spike by more than 25% over the past 12 months, according to an analysis by realestate.com.au.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the price gains are the highest in more than a decade.
“The market has gone through this really long period where investment levels have been winding down across Australia,” Lawless told The Australian. “This was a trend we started seeing around the first round of macroprudential regulations that were introduced back in 2014. I think it’s reasonable to expect that with fewer investors, there hasn’t been as much rental stock added to the marketplace.”
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Smaller capitals posted the largest change for detached housing, according to The Australian. In Darwin, rents shot up 15%, or $81, to $542 per week. Hobart saw a rise of 12.9% to $538 per week, and Brisbane was up 11.8% to $542 per week.
Perth and Sydney also posted double-digit growth, with Perth rents up 10.4% to $493 per week and Sydney up 10.2%.