Finally: Rent Relief For Tenants?

Tenants across Australia may have been through the worst of the rental crises and rising rents, for the moment anyway.

Rentals Getting Easier to Find?

The latest figures from Australian Property Monitors (APM) report that the long period of sustained rental increases may have come to the end in most Australian cities. For the last quarter most Australian cities have recorded no increase. In fact the only city with strong rental growth was Darwin whose rental levels now equal Sydney’s. Other cities including Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and both the Gold and Sunshine coasts are flat or slightly down. APM senior economist Liam O’Hara is quoted as saying:

The demand to raise rents for both houses and units has softened, which should provide some relief to renters.

The recent reduction in interest rates means that pressure on landlords to off-set their high mortgage costs has, in the short term, eased.

Today’s The Australian newspaper is reporting speculation that interest rates could drop another 2.25% by next Easter. ANZ, one of Australia’s major lenders has also today announced another 0.25% cut to their variable rate, the second in ten days. So depending on what happens in the world’s financial crises, it could well be that the requirement to raise rents to cover mortgages will be easing for a time to come.

However if the Australian economy continues to create and retain jobs then it would seem that the supply side is not going away. Unless the slower investment in residential building over the last few years catches up and the tenant demand goes up again.

If you are planning on renting a home in Australia the cheapest places to rent with an average weekly rental of $290 are Hobart, Adelaide and Newcastle (NSW). The most expensive places to rent are Sydney ($430 per week), Darwin ($480), Gold Coast ($420) and Canberra ($400)

Photo Credit: beembag