A deep dive into rental stats
Ever heard the narrative that rental owners are rich individuals and most have multiple properties? Have you wondered what the average rental price is in Australia and what percentage of someone’s income that equates to?
Well, the latest research and insight is in and it paints a fascinating picture of Australia’s rental market…
Rental property ownership
According to the latest data from the Australian Taxation Office, almost 2.3 million (2,268,161) Australians had an interest in a rental property in 2021-22.
That was slightly more than the year prior when 2,245,539 individuals declared an interest in a rental.
And contrary to claims the rental market is dominated by wealthy investors with a portfolio of rentals, the majority of people only have one investment property.
In fact, 71 per cent of rental property owners have an interest in just one investment, while 29 per cent have an interest in multiple properties.
The ATO’s data indicates in 2021-22 there were the following levels of ownership:
- One property – 1,620,663 (71 per cent of all rental property owners)
- Two properties – 428,020 (19 per cent of all rental property owners)
- Three properties – 132,338 (6 per cent of all rental property owners)
- Four properties – 47,633 (2 per cent of all rental property owners)
- Five properties – 19,530 (1 per cent of all rental property owners)
- Six properties or more – 19,977 (1 per cent of all rental property owners)
Meanwhile, 949,519 (42 per cent) individuals reported a net loss on their rental investment in 2021-22, while 1,318,641 (58 per cent) reported a net profit.
Loan size
Elsewhere, the data is in when it comes to investment lending, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics noting loans for investment properties had increased significantly in the past year.
Their data shows investment loans increased to $10.9 billion as of April 2024, which was 36.1 per cent higher than April 2023.
The size of each individual loan has also increased in that period, with the average investor loan for the purchase of an existing dwelling rising 9.5 per cent from $592,000 to $648,000.
Meanwhile, the growth in the value of investor loans was strongest in New South Wales and Queensland, increasing 43.9 per cent and 46.4 per cent respectively between April 2023 and April 2024.
Market conditions
General market conditions also paint a fascinating picture of Australia’s rental market, with demand for rental properties continuing to outstrip supply, resulting in increasing rental prices.
The latest PropTrack quarterly rental report notes the rental vacancy rate was 1.4 per cent in June 2024. This was an increase on the 1.1 per cent of the previous quarter but was steady compared to the vacancy rate in June 2023.
In the interim, median days that rental properties were advertised on realestate.com.au for the June 2024 quarter was 21 days, which was an increase on the 18 recorded in the March quarter but the same as June 2023.
And when it came to the national median rental price, it was $600 per week, which was the same as the March quarter but $50 more than in June 2023, representing a 9.1 per cent increase over the past year.
Breaking those statistics down further, the national median advertised rent for houses was $620 per week for the quarter while median unit rents were $600 per week.
Meanwhile, median capital city rents ($640 per week) were $100 more expensive than regional rents ($540 per week).
How we can help
Our experienced property managers pride themselves on establishing great relationships with both rental occupiers and owners.
We manage every property as if it were our own and you can learn more about our property management services here.
Alternatively, if you are looking to rent a property, you can view the properties we currently have available here.
