The state of the Perth rental market has been muddied, with two sets of research showing a small increase in rental rates for houses but producing conflicting results for apartments.
The Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) today released its preliminary quarterly results into the rental market for the December quarter, which showed a decrease in demand and an increase in listings.
The vacancy rate edged higher from 1.8 per cent to 1.9 per cent, while the median weekly rental price for units and apartments dropped by $10.
“Our data shows while the median rent for a house lifted by $10 to $460 per week, the median rent for strata dwellings … fell by $10 to $420 per week,” REIWA president David Airey said.
Meanwhile, Australian Property Monitors (APM) recorded an increase in weekly rents for both houses and units for the December quarter.
The median weekly asking rent for houses increased by 4.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $470, while for units it crept up 2.6 per cent to $400 a week.
“The surge in Perth rentals is a consequence of the wave of new arrivals currently estimated at around 1500 per week,” APM senior economist Andrew Wilson said.
“Existing high competition for available rental properties has been intensified by the subdued levels of new housing over the past few years.”
According to REIWA, weekly rental listings topped 2,800 in December before declining towards the end of the year. However this had increased to 3,000 properties up for rent earlier this month.
“Despite the modest drop in price for units and apartments in the last three months of 2012, we need to keep in mind that the March quarter is always the strongest period in the year for rental activity, so this drop may only be a temporary reprieve for tenants,” Mr Airey said.
“The median rent may pick up again as the year progresses, but as always this will depend on supply and demand.”
In addition, APM also reported that gross rental yields for houses in Perth had picked up to 5.27 per cent in the December quarter, up from the previous quarter’s 5.13 per cent. For units, gross rental yields were recorded at 5.77 per cent, up from 5.62 per cent.
