WA regions have smallest number of affordable rentals, report finds

Rentals costing less than $400 a week have “largely disappeared” in regional towns as what were once affordability havens catch up to the rest of the nation. New data from the PropTrack Market Insight Report shows the soaring prices of the rental crisis across the nation has now caught up to regional towns. The report found the overall share of rental properties listed on realestate.com.au for less than $400 per week in regional WA has fallen to just 14.8 per cent, down from 68 per cent four years ago at the onset on the pandemic in March, 2020. Regional WA has the smallest portion of properties listed to rent below $400 a week, followed by regional Queensland and regional New South Wales. PropTrack Senior economist Paul Ryan said the rise in rental prices since the pandemic had been massive. “Affordable rental options are vanishing across the country, with the number of rental properties available for under $400 a week hitting new record lows in April,” he said. “At the start of the pandemic, 43.2 per cent of Australia’s rental properties cost less than $400 a week, that figure has plummeted to just 10.4 per cent, which is a third lower than this time last year. The ACT had the smallest share of properties listed to rent under $400 a week at 2.1 per cent, followed by Sydney at 3.1 per cent and Perth at 5.6 per cent. Melbourne saw the biggest annual decline in the share of houses listed for less than $400 a week, followed by Adelaide and Sydney. Mr Ryan said action needed to be taken now to stop prices from rising and to keep the poorest Australians with a roof over their heads. “Near record-low vacancy rates, reflecting strong demand and limited new supply, has created exceptionally challenging conditions for renters,” he said. “This is particularly problematic for lower income households for whom almost no rental properties are affordable, highlighting the critical need for an increase in the supply of housing. “The imbalance between rental demand and supply has seen rental properties listed under $400 drop across all markets except Darwin and without any meaningful action to improve rental supply we can expect to see this trend remain and price increases endure.”