Brisbane rents have risen by up to 55% in one year

Date: 13 October 2008 | Source : Couier Mail

Courier Mail article

Brisbane rents have risen by up to 55% in one year

October 13, 2008 05:55pm

THE cost of renting a home in Brisbane has soared by as much as 55 per cent in the past year, according to the latest residential tenancy figures.

Figures released by the Residential Tenancies Authority to mX today show it now costs an average $330 a week to rent a two-bedroom home in Brisbane after 10 per cent-plus increases almost across the board since this time last year.

The biggest proportionate price rises are in the outer southern and inner northwestern suburbs.

But the pain is widespread, with rents in only a few suburbs going backwards.

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Housing Minister Robert Schwarten said the figures showed renters were still doing it tough.

The fastest growth was for three-bedroom units in the Kelvin Grove-Red Hill area, up 55.6 per cent to $420 a week.

Two-bedroom houses became the most increasingly expensive homes in the past year, up by an average of 13.8 per cent.

Prices soared almost 30 per cent for such properties in the Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley and Herston areas.

Median rents for three-bedroom and four-bedroom homes rose by just over 10 per cent, to an average of $360 and $420 respectively.

Two-bedroom units experienced the quickest price growth among apartments, up 13.1 per cent to an average $345.

The cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment rose an average 6.4 per cent to $250 a week.

The most expensive place to rent a two-bedroom unit was in the central business district, at $530 a week, while this type of property was cheapest at Sandgate-Deagon ($210 a week).

For two-bedroom homes, the cheapest options were in the outer southwest (average $250), while the most expensive were in the Bowen Hills-Herston area ($420).

The data also suggests students wanting to live close to their universities might be finding it difficult, with prices for three-bedroom apartments in both St Lucia and Kelvin Grove rising by more than 50 per cent.

The data was based on new residential tenancy bonds lodged with the Residential Tenancies Authority during the September quarter.

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Brisbane rents have risen by up to 55% in one year

Courier Mail article

Brisbane rents have risen by up to 55% in one year