The Australian housing market has ground to a halt, as the housing boom finally ends. But there is good news as well – as a result of this the rental market has seen an upturn. Perth is a classic example of this trend.
The rental market saw an increase of some 23 per cent over the last twelve months, as people started to turn from buying to renting. Anyone with a rental property is expected to see healthy returns. The last three months of 2007 saw an increase of 6.7 per cent.
Popular areas such as Perth are representative of the country as a whole. While Perth is still an up and coming area compared to Sydney and Canberra, the last three months of 2007 did not experience any rise in house prices, while the rise in rents was in line with the rest of the country.
Rob Druitt of The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) has said that, "Perth rents are now very close to – or match – the more expensive capitals of Sydney and Canberra.''
Land prices meanwhile saw a healthy increase, soaring by 12 per cent during the whole of 2007.
Rob Druitt forecasts that more investors may turn towards the rental market to increase their income this year, as more people decide to rent rather than buy.