Andrew Wilson: House rents on the rise

All Canberra suburban regions have recorded increases in house rents over the past year reflecting a general underlying shortage of rental accommodation.

Tuggeranong reported the highest growth rate over the year ending the March quarter 2016 with a strong 5.9 per cent increase followed by Canberra Central at 4 per cent, Woden Valley 2.5 per cent, Belconnen 2.4 per cent, Gungahlin 2.2 per cent and Weston Creek 1.1 per cent.

Canberra Central has the highest house rents in Canberra with a median asking weekly rental of $520 reported over the March quarter. Next highest was Woden Valley with $493 per week followed by Weston Creek $475, Gungahlin $470, Tuggeranong $450 and Belconnen $430 per week.

Canberra region unit rents have also increased over the past year led by Woden Valley up by 6.1 per cent. The next highest annual increase was Belconnen with 5.7 per cent followed by Weston Creek 5.5 per cent, Tuggeranong 1.3 per cent, Canberra Central 1.2 per cent and Gungahlin, which reported no unit rent increase over the past year.

Canberra Central also reported the highest unit rents over the March quarter at $430 per week followed by Weston Creek $385, Tuggeranong $380, Belconnen $370, Gungahlin $360 and Woden Valley $350 per week.

Ngunnawal reported the most suburban rental vacancies for houses over March followed by Casey, Kambah, Bonner and Harrison. The Canberra suburb with the highest unit vacancies over March was Kingston followed by Belconnen, Braddon, Bruce and Canberra City.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group chief economist. Twitter:@DocAndrewWilson – My Property, 2UE Fridays, 2-3pm, Saturdays, 12.30-1pm