CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher said analysis of recent Census results show the proportion of properties rented has been trending higher, increasing from 29.6% at the time of the 2011 Census and 27.2% at the time of the 2006 Census to reach 30.9% of all dwellings in 2016.
“While the proportion of dwellings being rented is climbing, the proportion of properties owned outright has also been trending lower and the rate of home ownership is diminishing,” Mr Kusher said.
“An interesting observation from the latest Census analysis is that those properties classified as ‘rentals’ are not all owned by private investors; almost 12% of rented dwellings are owned by state or territory housing authorities, and 2% are owned by community/church groups,” he said.
The vast majority of rentals are investor owned with 60% of these managed through a real estate agent, while 20% of rented dwellings are rented by individuals not living in the same household.
The CoreLogic analysis has identified the top 50 areas most popular for renters. Three of these regions are the top three most rental-centric regions (Torres Strait Islands, East Arnhem and Nhulunbuy). The rental accommodation in these three regions is predominantly provided by government.
Overall, the most rental-centric regions are generally located within mining and resource-related regions, and inner city areas where significant increases in housing density has taken place over recent years.
Other areas to see significant increases in rental popularity are Pimpama (located midway between Brisbane & the Gold Coast) where the proportion of properties rented has increased from 29.9% in 2006 to 62.7% in 2016 and South Hedland in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, with significant increases for renting from 36.0% in 2006 to 65.6% in 2016.
“By the time of the next Census is 2021, we anticipate that the proportion of properties being rented will increase further given a growing population and ongoing housing affordability pressures, particularly within the largest housing markets,” Mr Kusher said.
Auction preview
Victoria has the busiest suburbs for auctions this week include 18 in Werribee, followed closely by Reservoir (14), Frankston (13) and Elwood (12).
Auction volumes are set to remain steady for another week, with 1,787 properties scheduled to go to auction this week across the combined capital cities.
Volumes in Melbourne and Sydney are set to increase over the week, with 862 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne, and 647 auctions scheduled across Sydney, increasing on last week.
Across the smaller auction markets, Adelaide and Brisbane will see an increase in auction activity over the week, while Canberra, Perth and Tasmania will see a lower volume of auctions scheduled this week compared to last week. The total number of homes scheduled to go to auction this week is higher than what was seen over the same week last year (1,610).
Last week’s auction summary
There were a total of 1,748 auctions held across the combined capital cities last week, recording a final auction clearance rate of 69.9 per cent.
Over the last 3 weeks volumes and clearance rates have remained relatively steady, with last week’s results increasing only slightly from the week prior when 69.4 per cent of the 1,627 auctions reported as successful.
In Sydney, the final auction clearance rate increased to 70.3 per cent last week, after clearance rates were below 70 per cent over each of the previous six weeks. Melbourne had the highest rate of clearance of all capital cities last week with 73.8 per cent of auctions clearing, down slightly compared to the 74.9 per cent the week prior.
Across the remaining markets, clearance rates improved in Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Tasmania, while Adelaide recorded a lower clearance rate week-on-week. Geelong recorded the highest clearance rate of all the non-capital city regions last week, with 75.0 per cent of the 35 auctions held successful, while the Gold Coast region had the highest volume of auctions (49).
