Rent.com.au Monthly Market Report for January 2020

Report Highlights

• Perth remains the cheapest capital city to rent an individual room in a house at $126/week, despite
  a year-on-year room price increase of 8.6%.
• Sydney ended 2019 and began 2020 as the most unaffordable metro capital for apartments and
  houses at $520/week and $600/week respectively.
• Houses in Canberra slowed most significantly of all state and territory capitals to take 30 days to
  lease, a 51% slowdown month-on-month.
• Perth (up 7.7%), Hobart (up 5.3%) and Adelaide (up 4.9%) were key contributors to the change in
  the national apartment median rent

Days on Market

“As many renters view the start of the year as the ideal time to find a new home, January is typically a
busier month for rental properties than any other time of the year,” said Mr Bader. “With high demand from
tenants comes an influx of new rental listings and available properties to rent which, due to strong
competition, can mean landlords struggle to secure tenants.”

Rent.com.au’s latest report recorded a general increase in the time apartments and houses stayed on
market in January. The rental market slowed most significantly in Canberra, where houses took an
average of 30 days to shift in January, up from 20 days in December 2019. Looking at apartments, the only
state capital where properties shifted off market faster was Hobart, averaging 13 days to lease (2% faster,
month-on-month).

Perth Market

Considering rent.com.au’s room price metric, Perth remained the cheapest place in Australia to rent an
individual room in a house at $126/week, despite an 8.6% increase year-on-year.

The 12-month change in price per room showed Hobart to have the biggest reduction in apartment prices,
dropping 8.9% to $205/week.

Rent.com.au chief executive officer, Greg Bader said with most reported property data developed for the
property owner (i.e. dwelling price), it was important to have an individual measurement that looked at a
room price breakdown.

“Our price per room metric is a different way to look at the cost of renting,” he said. “It’s a more accurate
representation for people wanting to share a home with others.

SOURCE: www.rent.com.au