Rents across Australia’s capital cities are continuing to grow at a glacial pace, according to new figures.
The latest
CoreLogic RP Data Rent Review report reveals the combined capital cities annual rate of rental growth was just 0.6% in October, a slight improvement from the 0.5% recorded in September.
The increase in the annual rate of growth came despite the fact that four out of the eight capital city markets saw their rents go backwards during October.
Darwin, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide all saw rental decreases during the month, with Darwin leading the way with a decline of 1.7%.
Rents rose over the month in Canberra, Sydney and Hobart, with Canberra leading the way with a increase of 0.3%.
Rents in Melbourne were unchanged over October.
Over the 12 months to the end of October rents improved in all capital cities except Darwin and Perth, where significant falls of 12.7% and 6.6% have been recorded.
Sydney and Melbourne recorded the biggest increases over the year, with rents rising 2.2% and 2.1% respectively.
While October saw the annual rate of rental growth improve slightly, there is little sign that trend will continue.
“The data points to an ongoing softening of rental growth, particularly throughout this year,” CoreLogic RP Data research analyst
Cameron Kusher said.
“With just two months remaining to year’s end, it seems that rental growth will be very soft over 2015,” Kusher said.
Kusher said the recent construction boom combined with slowing rates of population growth are among the main reasons for the subdued rate of rental growth.
