The CoreLogic Quarterly Rental Review for June showed a strong uplift of 6.6 per cent in rent values over the year.
This positive CoreLogic data follows a decade of relatively subdued annual rent growth, averaging 1.8 per cent since June 2011.
The annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent marked the strongest annual uplift in over a decade.
CoreLogic data across 88 local markets shows that, as with the current housing market upswing, rental market increases have been broad-based.
Why regional rent values are trumping capital cities
Annual rent increases were observed across 79 of the 88 markets analysed, ranging from a 0.2 per cent rise in the north east and north west Melbourne rent markets, to a 23.7 per cent increase in rent values across the south east of Tasmania.Â
Areas which had seen a decline in rent values over the year were largely concentrated across Greater Sydney and Greater Melbourne, with the exception of a slight decline in Outback Northern Territory rent values.
Among the top 10 regions for annual growth in rents were five Perth markets and Darwin, as well as regional and lifestyle markets.
The south east of Tasmania tops the list with rent value growth of 23.7 per cent.
Applying this growth figure to the median rent suggests an increase of $83 per week in rent over the year.
An additional 660 people moved to the south east region from other parts of Australia. Internal migration across regional Tasmania has also seen impressive results.
Looking for lifestyle
While international migration was significantly reduced over the last financial year due to the pandemic, some local regions saw positive internal migration trends.
Regional Australian rental markets have generally outperformed those across capital cities, rising 11.3 per cent over the year, compared with a five per cent rise in capital city rents.
Some of the highest growth across rent and property values has occurred in lifestyle markets.
CoreLogic also noted there may have been an increase in holiday home purchases amid the pandemic, which creates restriction in the stock available for rental accommodation.
Greater Perth has seen a significant rise in annual rent value growth
Greater Perth is comprised of six investigated submarkets, five of which are featured in the top 10 list for annual growth in rental values.
Across these five regions, rental markets have tightened significantly in the past year, seeing an average decline of 29.5 per cent in rental listings counted between the June 2020 and June 2021 quarters.
In the case of Mandurah, the volume of rental listings has declined over 40 per cent.
ABS employment data suggested that each of these regions had also seen an uplift in employment across the mining industry over the past 12 months, which may have added to the demand for rental properties in these markets.
