Rents recorded an unprecedented 0.6% fall in the year to 30 June according to CoreLogic, driven mainly by steep falls in the commodity-reliant cities of Darwin and Perth.
Rents fell by an unprecedented 0.6% in the year to 30 June, the steepest fall recorded since CoreLogic began collected the data in 1996.
CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher says the factors forcing rents lower include: the lowest wages growth on record, high levels of housing investment, high levels of new construction (most of which are units which are more than twice as likely to be rented), and slowing population growth.
House rents fell by 0.9% over the year to June.
However, rents for apartments rose 1.5% for the year, indicating the apartment market has not yet reached the point of oversupply.
The overall decline in rents was driven by the nation's mining-reliant cities, Darwin and Perth. The CoreLogic report reveals that annual rents plummeted 16.2% in Darwin, and 8.6% in Perth.
Rents in Sydney rose 0.4% for the year, while rents in Melbourne rose 1.7%. Hobart's rent rose 4.6% over the 12 months to June, and Canberra's rents gained 1.9%.
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