Perth’s median house rent rises to $620 per week, the highest YOY growth in the country

In news that we can barely even call news as many West Aussies are simply living it, Domain’s December 2023 rental report has revealed some harsh figures for those trying to rent a place around Perth.

Continuing a record-long stretch of rising rents (nine consecutive quarters for houses and six for units), we’ve reached a record median high of $620/week for houses and $520 for units.

The house median rent rise is up a whopping 17% compared to last year, the highest jump anywhere in Australia, followed by Melbourne $550 median (up 14.6%) and Sydney’s $730 (up 12.3%).

“Despite the persistent gains, the pace of quarterly growth has slowed marginally, now at its smallest increase since September 2022 for houses and March 2023 for units,” says the report.

Concurrently (and obviously not coincidentally) Perth’s vacancy rate continues to remain extremely low at 0.4% (up from 0.3% in November), though a rise in property numbers for rent “is anticipated towards the end of the year,” the report posits hopefully.

“The mismatch between low supply and rising demand remains an ongoing challenge for tenants,” reads the report.

“Australia’s housing supply shortfall has collided with rapid population growth (including the largest net gain in overseas migrants on record, with the biggest group being temporary visa holders), a strained construction sector and rising property prices (locking people into renting for longer).”

You can check out a suburb-by-suburb breakdown of just how the large the increase in the median rent is around Perth below:

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