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Perth rental market showing signs of improvement says REIWA data

Natalie HordovEastern Reporter

THE Perth rental market is showing signs of improvement, with leasing activity for the December 2016 quarter 23.8 per cent higher than the December 2015 quarter.

REIWA president Hayden Groves said reiwa.com data showed all five sub-regions in Perth experienced notable increases in activity over that time.

“While conditions in the rental market remain challenging, the spike in leasing activity levels between December quarter 2015 and December quarter 2016 is a real positive for the market,” he said.

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“Tenants are very active and are taking advantage of favourable conditions.”

Leasing activity also lifted on a quarterly basis, increasing 1.9 per cent in the three months to December.

“All but two of the sub-regions saw a lift in activity over the quarter, with the South-East region the stand out performer,” Mr Groves said.

“At a suburb level, the big winners for leasing activity in the December quarter were Burswood, up 78.9 per cent, Palmyra, up 70.3 per cent, Melville, up 59.1 per cent, Langford, up 54.5 per cent, and Beechboro, up 53.8 per cent.”

Tenants continued to benefit from Perth’s current rental market cycle, with the overall median rent price (houses and units) falling to $360 per week in the December quarter.

Mr Groves said median rent prices had softened slightly across all sub-regions.

“In good news for investors though, there were numerous suburbs within each sub-region that bucked this trend to record increases in their weekly median rent prices over the quarter,” he said.

“Ocean Reef and Burswood in particular saw substantial increases to their median rent prices, which can be attributed to a greater proportion of higher priced rentals leasing during the period. In both these suburbs there was stronger demand for three to five bedroom homes, which usually command a higher weekly rent comparative to smaller properties.”

On average, it was one day quicker to lease a property in the December quarter than it was in the September quarter.

“On an annual basis, the average days to lease a house or unit have come in by almost a week, with reiwa.com data showing it was six days faster to find a tenant in the December quarter 2016 than it was in the December quarter 2015,” Mr Groves said.