Rental prices climb, slower than last quarter: CoreLogic

Rents are rising across Australia but slower than they were 12 months ago, according to the latest quarterly rental review by CoreLogic.

There has been a general slowdown in the rate of rental growth.

This trend is typical of the second quarter, which historically records a slower period for rental growth and appreciation than the seasonally strong first three months of the year.

CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher said the first two quarters of 2018 have seen softer rental growth than the same two quarters of last year highlighting the slowing rental growth across the nation.

"With rental stock continuing to rise as off-the-plan unit settlements continue, it is anticipated that the softening rental growth will continue over the coming months.”

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Across the nation, rents were 0.3 per cent higher over the second quarter of 2018 and 1.8 per cent higher over the 12 months to June 2018, less than half what it was over the same period in 2017, when rents climbed by 0.7 per cent.

Rental growth over the second quarter is slightly higher in the combined regions (+0.4 per cent) than in the combined capital cities (+0.3 per cent), and over the past 12 months, regional rents climbed 3.1 per cent compared to 1.4 per cent growth across the capitals.

In the second quarter, rents climbed in all capital cities except for Darwin (-1.0 per cent) and Sydney (- 0.3 per cent).

Hobart reported the highest quarterly rental increase (+1.9 per cent), followed by Canberra (+1.3 per cent).

Hobart was, across all the capitals over the past 12 months, reporting the highest growth in rental rates (+10.7 per cent) and Canberra was the next strongest performer (+4.5 per cent).

Rents climbed higher in all capital cities except Perth (-0.2 per cent) and Darwin (-1.7 per cent) over the past 12 months.

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Over the past 10 years, national weekly rents for both houses and units have increased by 25.7 per cent.

House rents increased by 1.9 per cent over the past 12 months, while units increased by 1.7 per cent. 

The national median rent is $429 per week ($427 for houses and $434 for units).

The median house rental in the capital cities is $464 compared to $458 for units, while across the regions, both houses and units averaged $356 per week. 

Sydney continues to be Australia’s most expensive capital city to rent in, with a median rent of $583, compared to Hobart, which has one of the lowest average rents across all the capitals at $418 per week.

Adelaide ($375) has the cheapest weekly rent out of all Australian capital cities.

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Rental yields have increased nationally by 0.6 per cent over the past 12 months to 3.7 per cent.

The average rental yield is 3.4 per cent across the combined capitals (+0.1 per cent).

In comparison, yields across the combined regions fell slightly (-0.1 per cent) to 4.9 per cent.

Annual rental yields increased in Sydney (+0.1 per cent), Darwin (+0.3 per cent) and Canberra (+0.1 per cent).

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Yields remained unchanged in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne, and declined slightly in Hobart (- 0.2 per cent) and Perth (-0.1 per cent).

Darwin has both the highest growth in rental yields (+0.3 per cent) as well as the highest yield (+5.7 per cent).

Hobart has the second highest yield (+4.9 per cent) followed by Canberra (+4.6 per cent).

Melbourne (+3.0 per cent) has the lowest rental yields, followed by Sydney (+3.2 per cent).