According to CoreLogic RP Data’s latest monthly rental review, Melbourne recorded rental growth of 2.1% over the 12 months to the end of November, while rents grew by 2% in Sydney.
Three other capital cities, Canberra, Hobart and Adelaide saw their rents increase by 0.2% - 1.1% over the same period.
The three remaining cities, Perth, Darwin and Brisbane all saw negative growth over the year, with Perth and Darwin seeing significant rental falls of 7.4% and 13.4% respectively.
Combined, rents across the capital cities grew by just 0.3% over the 12-month period, which is a new record low.
According to the figures, the median weekly asking rent across the capital cities is $483.
Individually, Sydney’s weekly median asking rent of $595 is the highest, while Hobart’s has the lowest at $336.
The slow pace of growth has also had an impact on rental yields, with seven of the eight capital markets recording falls over the 12 months.
Yields are the lowest in Sydney (3.4%) and Melbourne (3.1%) and the two cities have the equal highest yearly decreases of 0.3%.
Hobart is the only market where yields have not deteriorated over the year, remaining steady at 5.4%, a nation-wide high it and Darwin share.
Cameron Kusher, research analyst at CoreLogic RP Data, said there is little sign that the rate of rental growth will pick up anytime soon.
“[The] results point to a broad trend of weakening rental growth, particularly throughout this year. With less than one month to go before year's end, it is apparent that rental growth will be very soft over 2015,” Kusher said.
“The construction boom across the capital cities, coupled with slowing population growth, low mortgage rates and the recent heightened level of activity from investors who add to the pool of rental stock are the major contributing factors to the slowing rental growth,” he said.
