Perth rents take a tumble
Fewer jobs, slowing population growth and a flood of new apartment developments have sent Perth's rents lower, with the inner-city and western suburbs among the hardest hit.
Figures to be released today by WA real estate body REIWA show the median rent for the Perth metropolitan area fell $10 to $440 a week last month.
Perth's vacancy rate has continued to rise, up 10 per cent in the December quarter to hit 4.2 per cent, or about 6300 rental properties on the market.
A vacancy rate of 3 per cent is considered normal and Perth's is now 37 per cent higher than at the end of 2013, or 200 per cent higher than its low in September 2012.
The December quarter figures represent an increase of 37 per cent from the same period in 2013, or up 200 per cent from September 2012 when Perth's rental stock bottomed out at 2100 dwellings and a vacancy rate of about 1.8 per cent.
REIWA managing director David Airey said he expected rental trends in 2015 to be "more of the same".
He said the number of properties on the market could hit 7000, driven by more residential developments boosting supply and continued fallout from the slowing WA jobs market.
The decline in rent was most pronounced in the Perth city area, where median rents fell $65 a week last year.
"Perth city has been badly hit by the downturn, primarily through the massive number of new apartments that are going on to the market," Mr Airey said.
"We've known for some time how badly other areas were being affected, like the western suburbs.
"The more affluent areas along the coast have been affected for well over a year now where we've seen the loss of the corporate rental market. In particular, people coming from overseas (for jobs in the resources sector) are simply not coming now."
One real estate agent who asked not to be named told _The West Australian _there had been a "huge decline" in rents over the past six months, with many tenants asking for rent cuts before renewing after reading media reports about the market changes.
City properties that became vacant were being appraised again before being advertised.
House rental rates held up better than apartments. While the median rent hit $440 a week, the median rent for houses was $450 a week, compared with $420 a week for units, apartments and villas.
