The IPN Regional Rent Index analyses the short-term fluctuations in house rental markets across regions in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, and TAS, excluding capital city areas.
Published monthly, the data is derived from advertised rentals for houses and is calculated over a rolling 12-month sample period. Metrics include median rents for both houses and units, and vacancy rates, all aggregated by the ABS standard known as Statistical Area 3 (SA3).
Regional Rent Index Report Highlights
Housing market
- Regional housing rentals saw increases in QLD (3.4%) and SA (2.7%), however all other states remained at 0% change over the past quarter. QLD identified the top three increases in rental medians, with Burnett seeing the largest change at 7.7%, followed by Innisfail – Cassowary Coast at 7.5% and Bowen Basin – North at 6.7%.
Unit market
- All states saw increases in regional unit rents over the last three months, with the exception of NSW and VIC, which held steady at 0%. QLD identified the largest increase at 4.8%, followed by WA at 4.3%. NSW saw the two largest increases in media rentals over the past 3 months, with Snowy Mountains identifying a 10% increase and Kempsey – Nambucca a 5.6% increase. QLD’s Bowen Basin – North rounded out the top three with a 5.3% change.
Vacancy rates
- All states, with the exception of TAS, saw increases in vacancy rates over the past three months. VIC increased from 1.5% in October to 1.8% in January. The Snowy Mountains in NSW saw the largest decrease in vacancies over the past quarter, with a -3.4% change. Huon – Bruny Island in TAS has a current vacancy rate of 1.9%, which is a -2.6% decrease over the past three months.