Relief for renters as rates fall

RELIEF may be in sight for renters who have been hit in the hip pocket by skyrocketing rents over the past few years.

There has been a small decrease in rental rates across Australia’s capital cities over the June quarter, suggesting rental yields may have hit their peak, leading property statistics agency RP Data says.

Weekly house rents fell by 3.5 per cent nationally over the June quarter while unit rents dropped 0.6 per cent.

The largest fall was in the Canberra market with a drop of six per cent for the June quarter in the housing market, where the median weekly rent fell from $530 in March to $498 in June.

The only mainland capital city to experience a nearly six per cent rise in rent was Darwin, where renters can expect to fork out about $100 more per week than those in Sydney, where rents dipped by about five per cent.

“It now appears that the rental market may have peaked with national weekly median rents falling slightly in each month post March 2009,” RP Data’s Tim Lawless said in a statement.

“And with rental rates now coming off the boil and property values rising we are seeing the first signs that rental rates are eroding.”

Rental vacancies remain tight across the nation with all capitals recording less than three per cent vacancy in stock.

Source  :   www.news.com.au  

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

WA regional house prices bouncing back

Real estate data for the June quarter has revealed regional house prices in Western Australia have bounced back after dropping sharply in the second half of last year.

The median house price for regional WA grew 6.6 per cent in the past three months, while Perth homes increased by just 2.3 per cent.

The median house price in country areas is now $373,000.

Real Estate Institute of WA president, Rob Druitt, says it is further evidence the housing market is stabilising after last year’s sharp drops.

“The bottom of our market was in the second half of 2008. We’ve now seen a more normalised, stable market,” he said.

“That’s good news for home buyers in the sense they can see interest rates are at 49-year lows, there is some growth there and we can see the market slowly improve from here.”

Source  :  www.abc.net.au

Read Full Post »

Perth will wake up to rain tomorrow for the first time in 26 days.

Hardly  a drop of rain has fallen on Perth as the city feels the second hottest start to the year on record. 

Perth has broke the record for the sunniest May on record today since 1876. 

Forecast shows that showers are coming to Perth about 3am tomorrow and continue until late Thursday.

Temperatures are going as low as 18 C forecast for Friday and chilly 17 C on Saturday.

Just 20mm of rain has fallen in Perth since January 1, less than half the first-quarter average of 42mm compared to last April 

The bureau expects below-average rainfall in the South-West to continue until June.

Read Full Post »