The gap between weekly house and unit rents has narrowed to just $30 across the combined capital cities.
According to the latest PropTrack Market Insight Report, the median rent for houses across the combined capitals is $650 per week, while for units it is $620.
This is the result of unit rental growth outpacing houses, both over the June quarter and year-on-year.
In the June quarter, unit rents spiked 3.3 per cent in the combined capitals, while houses remained steady.
Annually, capital city rents have jumped 8.8 per cent, compared to houses 8.3 per cent.
Rents are now sitting 10.3 per cent higher compared to 12 months ago across Australia’s capital cities and 8 per cent higher in regional areas.
PropTrack Senior Economist, Anne Flaherty, said several factors continued to push rents up.
“The cost of renting an apartment climbed across Australia’s capital city and regional areas over the June quarter, as persistently low vacancies and population growth drove demand for rental properties higher,” she said.
“Sydney remains the most expensive capital city to rent a home, with the median advertised rent rising 2.8 per cent over the quarter and 8.8 per cent, year-on-year, to reach $740 per week.”
“Over the past decade, Perth has transitioned from being the most affordable capital city to rent to the second most expensive behind Sydney, with the median advertised rent hitting $650 per week in June.”
The cheapest capital city to now rent a home in is Hobart, where the median cost to rent a dwelling dropped 1.9 per cent in the June quarter to $510 per week.
“Conditions for renters deteriorated further over the June quarter, with six of the eight capital cities experiencing rent growth,” Ms Flaherty said.
“Hobart and the ACT were the only cities which saw rents decline over the quarter, however Hobart remains higher compared to 12 months ago while the ACT’s rental prices have held steady.”
Regional rents increased during the June quarter, with units once again outpacing houses.
Units for the combined regional areas jumped 4.3 per cent to $490 per week, while for houses the increase was a more subdued 1.9 per cent to $550 per week.
