Rents expected to keep growing, but at slower pace

Property investors have enjoyed a golden run over the past five years, during which the national median rent increased 39.7%. However, in July, rents increased just 0.1%, which was the slowest growth since 2020, according to CoreLogic.

At the same time, annual rental growth has been trending down over the past few months.

Between February and July, rental growth fell from 9.7% to 8.0% in the combined capitals, although it rose from 5.4% to 7.1% in the combined regions. The big cities appear to be close to their rental affordability limit, while the regions, which have had less rental growth, might have more capacity to absorb higher rents.

Despite the slowdown of the national rental market, CoreLogic economist Kaitlyn Ezzy said rents were likely to keep increasing.

“Low supply will likely continue to put upward pressure on rents, albeit at a slower pace,” she said.

“With dwelling approvals and commencements at historic lows, providing sufficient new housing will not be a quick fix and remains a genuine challenge for policymakers, the property industry and, of course, tenants.”

In other words, while rents are likely to keep rising, tenants are likely to get some relief and investors shouldn’t budget for the double-digit-percentage increases of previous years.