Rent.com.au Monthly Market Report for April 2020

Report Highlights

• As short-term rentals are forced to switch to longer-term options under the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, increases in supply and changes to the market are causing a gradual drop in prices.
• Adelaide is still the cheapest place in Australia to rent an individual room in an apartment at $160/week, despite a 3.2% price increase year-on-year.
• Darwin was the only metro capital where apartment rents did not fall in April, climbing 14.1% to $365/week.
• Melbourne (-3.5%), Hobart (-3.2%) and Canberra (-3.1%) were key contributors to the national fall in house median rent in April.

Days on Market

Darwin apartments saw the most significant improvement in time on market in April; taking 23 days to shift on average (36% faster, month-on-month). Apartments in the NT capital were also off market 11% faster in April – now 30 days. For all property types, the most noticeable slowdown month-on-month was in Hobart, where apartments took 26% longer to lease in April, averaging 19 days to move.

Rent.com.au’s latest report showed that overall, apartments for lease experienced a general slowdown, with the biggest changes (slowest in Hobart, Brisbane and Melbourne).

Perth Market

Rent.com.au’s price per room metric offers another way to look at the cost of renting in Australia, for people looking to share a home and save money. Considering this metric, Perth remained the cheapest place in Australia to rent an individual room in a house at $116/week, unchanged from March 2020.

The 12-month change in price per room showed Canberra to have the biggest jump in apartment room prices, down 20.6% to $250/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