THE rental market is turning back in favour of tenants, as growth in the average rent for a house across most major capital cities continues to ease.
A combination of more renters looking to buy their own homes amid improved housing affordability, and landlords enjoying lower interest rates, led the median weekly asking rent for a house in Sydney and Melbourne to fall flat in the March quarter at $450 a week, data from API shows.
But Brisbane still experienced rental growth in the March quarter, up 2.9 per cent to $360, just ahead of Perth, up 2.8 per cent to $370,
“There is less tension there to get those rises,” APM economist Matthew Bell said.
“Plummeting interest rates have eased the pressure on landlords to seek increasing rents. The market has turned in favour of renters, who have real options to buy their own home.”
The unit market held up more than houses in rental growth, with asking rents for units in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide up between 4.2 per cent and 2.5per cent. However, Melbourne and Perth did not register any growth.
Darwin, one of the strongest-performing cities in the past two years, appears to be running out of steam, with unit rent prices down 5 per cent, while house rents were stable.