The September 2020 quarter CPI figures show the impact that the COVID pandemic is having on the rental market, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).

REIA President Adrian Kelly said the All Groups CPI rebounded with a 1.6 per cent increase in the September 2020 quarter following the largest fall in its 72-year history last quarter, giving an annual increase of 0.7 per cent.

“The quarterly changes for the analytical series of trimmed mean and for the weighted median were -0.4 and 0.3 per cent, respectively," he said.

"The annual changes in the trimmed mean and weighted mean were 1.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent with the trimmed mean being below 2 per cent since December 2015.

“The Housing Group did not change for the quarter and decreased by 0.2 per cent for the year to September 2020.

Mr Kelly said rents fell for the quarter in all capital cities except Canberra, which had an increase of 0.2 per cent. 

"The largest drop was 0.7 per cent in Darwin and the smallest was 0.1 per cent in Brisbane giving a weighted capital city fall of 0.2 per cent for the quarter and a fall of 1.4 per cent for the year," he said.

"This is the first annual fall in the history of the series when ABS started the series in September 1973.

“Rents fell in the September quarter in most capital cities due to continued weak rental market conditions with renters moving to cheaper areas and negotiating lower rents. 

"It suggests that the Government should be considering the extension of JobSeeker and rental assistance beyond December.” 

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