About one quarter of households in Western Australia are rental properties, representing almost 200,000 dwellings across the state. In WA, the number of people renting has been reasonably steady at roughly 28 per cent of all households for over a decade.
Although there is a change occurring in the mix of private and public housing tenants with the proportion of private sector tenants increasing.
Most rental properties are located in the inner suburbs of cities and towns. In Perth, for example, over 75 per cent of all rental properties are located within a 15 kilometer radius of the city centre.
The suburbs with the highest concentration are East Perth, Karawarra, West Perth, Northbridge, Highgate, Bentley, Glendalough and Victoria Park. Rental properties can account for up to 70 per cent of all dwellings in these areas.
Interestingly, most tenants live in houses and not flats or units. In fact, the results from the last census in 2006 found that almost 60 per cent of tenants live in traditional houses, although most flats and apartments are investor owned and used as rental properties.
The 2006 ABS data found that WA had 123,600 houses being rented, 33,400 terrace and townhouses and 32,000 flats. It will be interesting to see the results from the census due this year.
In WA the most common age group for renting is between 20 and 34. Typically, these are people in transition to home ownership. Not surprisingly then, the most common home buying and ownership group is aged around 34 to 44.
Most tenants prefer a short lease, with the more common lease being six months. Tenants clearly like the flexibility of a short lease, however more than half of all such leases are renewed for a further six months when the lease expires.
The median rent for accommodation in Perth is now $380 per week if you include units, apartments, villas and houses in the equation. Houses alone are generally higher than the overall median.
Rents in Perth have been steady for a year, but REIWA data sho
w that units may have risen by $10 per week over the three months to January to a median of $370.
Darwin remains the most expensive city in which to rent with a median price for a three bedroom house of $557 per week. Adelaide is the cheapest at $310. The average rent for three bedroom homes across all our capitals is $386 per week. Seen in this context Perth is just below average.
Perth’s vacancy rate, a measure of available properties for lease, has been above average for a year. However, there are signs this is tightening and it now sits at 3.4 per cent.
REIWA finds that around 3 per cent is required for a good balance between supply and demand.
