Perth rents soar as vacancies tighten further

A combination of declining rental vacancies and an influx of international workers has caused rents to rise by 14.6% in the inner-Perth market and by a whopping 18.6% in Freemantle as the city’s rental crisis deepens.

In Perth, the median weekly rent for a house has risen to $550 and $500 for an apartment, while in Freemantle a house will cost $593 a week to rent and an apartment $400 per week.

Rents for the September quarter are up 10.5% in Cockburn in Perth’s southern suburbs and 8.7% in Stirling West in the city’s northern suburbs.

Rents have risen by 7.9% in the western suburbs, where the average weekly rent for a house in Cottesloe, Mosman Park and Claremont is now $750 a week, compared with $695 three months ago.

Across the Perth metropolitan region, rents have risen 4.2% for the quarter, with median house and multi-residential rents increasing by $10 per week for the quarter, taking the median house rent to $400 per week and the median unit rent to $380 per week.

“This latest increase in rents will no doubt place further pressure on existing household budgets that are already under stress from across the board increases in living costs, including with groceries, gas and electricity,” says David Airey, president of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.

Source: REIWA

As point of comparison, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne rents were unchanged over the September quarter according to research Australian Property Monitors.

A report put out today by SQM Research reveals that the vacancy rate in Perth fell for the fifth straight month in October, tightening by 0.2% from 0.9% to 0.7%, with the number of rentals falling from 1,436 to 1,119.

The situation has deteriorated so much that tenants are offering $20 to $30 above the asking price to secure a lease or putting up with living in accommodation that Burswood property manager Hazel MacDonald told the Sydney Morning Herald she would not put her dog in.