Median prices for weekly rents dropped to $484 per week for houses and $466 per week for apartment units – the lowest since November 2014.
Areas with dropping rates included Brisbane (-1.1%), Adelaide (-0.3%), Perth (-9.4%), and Darwin (-14.1%).
On the other hand, Melbourne, Canberra, and Hobart recorded increasing rental rates, while Sydney remained stagnant.
CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher explained that this trend is expected to continue given today’s property market conditions.
“As long as wages growth continues to stagnate, coupled with historically high levels of new dwelling construction and slowing population growth, landlords won’t have much scope to increase rents,” said Kusher.
“On the flipside, renters are now in a much better position to negotiate.”
Kusher explained that the surge in the number of new buildings might lead to renters to become fussy over some unit conditions, including location and amenities.
“It may be more difficult for owners of older units with fewer amenities to compete with better located and facilitated new unit stock, particularly if there is little pricing differential,” said Kusher.
