Rent stress just gets worse
RENTING a home in Hobart is only $1 cheaper than renting in Melbourne, a national report has revealed.
CoreLogic’s June Quarter Rent Review puts Hobart’s median rent at $457 per week and Melbourne at $458.
Compared to rental figures 10 years ago, Hobart houses are now 45.7 per cent more expensive to rent and units 44.8 per cent. Both were the largest change in prices in Australia over that period.
CoreLogic head of research Cameron Kusher said for years Hobart was the most affordable rental market.
“The rapid growth in rents over recent years has seen Hobart become more expensive than Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin,” he said.
Over the past 12 months, rents increased in every capital city except for Sydney and Darwin. The increase was most pronounced in Hobart where the annual change was 4.7 per cent. The next largest was in Perth (2.5 per cent).
Shelter Tasmania executive officer Pattie Chugg said the statistics showed no sign of reducing the hardship for renters in Hobart.
“This report reinforces the consistent trend of worsening affordability that we have seen for several years now,” Ms Chugg said.
“Rents in Hobart have increased to the point of far outstripping people’s incomes and ability to pay, especially for many low and middle income Tasmanians.
“For the one in four Tasmanians relying on the private rental market, this is very bad news.”
Ms Chugg said rents continued to rise while Tasmanian incomes — on average $300 less per week than the national average — remained the lowest in the country.
For investors the report revealed rental yields in Hobart were higher than the national average and almost identical to Hobart’s figure of 5.2 per cent 12 months ago
CoreLogic’s latest MarketTrends report shows 13 Greater Hobart suburbs where houses, and two suburbs where units, have a median rental price over $500 per week.
The most affordable areas were Bridgewater and New Norfolk units alongside Primrose Sands houses at $270$280 per week.
Battery Point and Sandy Bay were the most expensive suburbs to rent a house with the median at $650 per week while the median in neighbouring Dynnyrne was $600.