Rental growth slows to all-time low in australia

Rental growth in Australia has slowed to an all-time low, as stock levels climb.

Rents rose 1.4 per cent in Sydney in January 2015, according to the latest figures from CoreLogic, 0.1 per cent in Hobart and 1.8 per cent in Canberra. Melbourne enjoyed the strongest monthly growth of 2.1 per cent, while Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin saw rents decline 0.7 per cent, 0.4 per cent, 8.6 per cent and 13.4 per cent respectively.

Weekly rents across the capital cities combined increased 0.2 per cent over the month of January, but were unchanged over the past 12 months. Currently, combined capital city rental rates are $487/week for houses and $465/week for units.

Research analyst Cameron Kusher comments: "CoreLogic has tracked annual rental changes since 1996 and over that time, rental growth conditions have never been weaker. At the same time last year rental rates had increased by 1.7 per cent highlighting that the slowdown in rental conditions has been sharp over the year."

The slowdown is attributed to a range of factors, from rising stock and cooling population growth, as well as stagnant wages.

"For renters there is a lot more accommodation options in the market while simultaneously, landlords are now required to respond to a more competitive environment which, in many cases means keeping rents steady or in some areas reducing rents in order to keep a tenant," adds Kusher.