Soaring
rentals across the country means good news for
landlords.
The quarterly rental figures released by Australian
Property Monitors show that weekly median house
rents increased by between 5 per cent and 25
per cent across the country’s capital cities*.Darwin
($500pw) now leads Sydney ($450pw), with year-on-year
increases of 25 per cent and 16.9 per cent respectively.
Rising rents
Median weekly house rents*
|
Dec
08
($) |
QoQ
(%) |
YoY
(%) |
Sydney |
450 |
4.7 |
16.9 |
Melbourne |
350 |
0 |
6.1 |
Brisbane |
350 |
0 |
6.1 |
Adelaide |
300 |
3.4 |
7.1 |
Canberra |
420 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
Perth |
360 |
2.9 |
12.5 |
Darwin |
500 |
4.2 |
25.0 |
Hobart |
290 |
0 |
6.4 |
While the trends are positive for landlords,
they are stretching the budgets of renters, many
of whom could be paying a similar amount on a
home of their own if they could save the deposit
and qualify for a loan.
With monthly mortgage costs dropping, and with
rentals increasing because of strong demand
for scarce accommodation, the investment
property
argument remains a strong one, particularly
when long-term capital appreciation of property
is
added to the mix.
*The Australian Financial Review, 22 January
2009, p49, reported by Michelle Singer |
