Renting in Canberra remains a daunting and difficult endeavour, with rents for both houses and units rising to new highs last quarter and remaining the most expensive in the country.
Weekly rents for combined dwellings have risen 2.6 per cent over the June quarter and 9.1 per cent year-on-year to reach a median price of $600, according to the latest PropTrack Market Insight Report.
The weekly median rent for a house in the ACT has risen by 1.5 per cent to hit $690 over the quarter, followed by Sydney on $640, Darwin on $620, and the capital city average rising 4.0 per cent to $520.
For units, Canberra has seen a rise of 1.9 per cent over the quarter to reach a median rent of $550 per week, with Sydney following behind at $520, Darwin at $500, and the capital city average of $460 which represents a rise of 2.2 per cent.
Canberra renters are looking at an average of $500 per week for a two-bedroom house, $650 for three bedrooms, $800 for four bedrooms, and $950 for five or more.
This compares to unit rents of a median $480 per week for a one-bedroom unit, $580 for two bedrooms, and $655 for three bedrooms.
PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher told Canberra Daily amongst the significant costs there was a small silver lining for Canberra renters this quarter.
“It [Canberra] is the most expensive capital city in the country for renting. The annual rate of changes actually slowed a little bit over the quarter, which is a little silver lining, only for houses though,” Mr Kusher said.
“We see the familiar theme of the rate of rental growth remaining strong in Canberra during COVID-19 due to low supply and big demand.”
“On a quarterly basis, house rental growth is 1.5 per down over the previous few quarters, which is encouraging and unit rents quarter-on-quarter growth rates are pretty steady and show a more general story about supply being insufficient to meet demand and with those conditions, it’s likely rents will continue to rise.
“For Canberra renters, unfortunately it looks like it will get worse before it gets better. My best advice is if you are in a property and your landlord is not increasing your rent too much, you’re better off staying where you are. There’s so much competition for available rentals.”
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