Rental listings climb higher

According to the latest CoreLogic Property Pulse for March, the number of rental advertisements over the past 12 months to January 2017 increased by 8.7 per cent for houses and 9.3 per cent for units.

During this period, there were 363,708 houses advertised for rent and 287,233 units at a national level.

Commenting on the results, CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher said: “The rental market is currently seeing historic low rates of rental growth. With the amount of rental accommodation ramping up, it’s easy to see why.”

He added: “Keep in mind this data is only those properties advertised for rent and not every rental property will be advertised for rent each year.”

Mr Kusher explained that the increase in rental advertisements is likely due to an uplift in population growth.

“Rental advertisement counts suggest that the population growth is increasingly being housed via rental housing which aligns with the lift in investor housing finance commitments over recent years,” he elaborated.

With a record-high number of new dwellings still under construction, most of which are units and many of which have been purchased by investors, CoreLogic anticipates that the number of properties advertised for rent will continue to rise.

[Related: Rentals remain ‘fairly stable’ across most cities]