Rental accommodation or Mortgage

Rental costs: through the roof or through the floor?

Median house prices are falling all over the country, but high demand for rental properties has seen median rents continuing to rise in most capital cities.

Reasons to rent
Renting can enable you to save for your deposit, giving you the breathing space you need while you watch and wait, especially if you?re not quite ready to commit to a mortgage. Renting also means you don?t need to shell out for costly maintenance, council rates, building insurance or other costs.

The fast facts on rents:

• Adelaide continues to have the lowest rents for both three bedroom houses and two bedroom other dwellings (units and apartments)
• In Perth and Hobart median rents keep jumping
• Melbourne, Adelaide and Darwin experienced no change in median rents for three bedroom houses in the December quarter
• In Darwin, median rents for two bedroom other dwellings (units and apartments) fell sharply in the December quarter (down 6.5%) to $360 per week
• Darwin is where rent for three bedroom houses is the most expensive ($520 per week, up 15.6% over the year)
• Sydney has the highest rent for other dwellings ($400 per week) followed by Canberra ($370 per week) and Darwin ($360 per week)

Vacancy rates
Sydney 1.4%
Melbourne 1.2%
Brisbane 1.8%
Adelaide 1.2%
Perth 2.4%
Hobart 1.9%
Darwin 1.8%
Canberra 2.3%
Source: REIA/Mortgage Choice MarketFacts, December quarter 2008