Last week saw the release of rental figures for the major cities.
These covered movements in city rents during March and they were mainly very positive.
And, as usual, mainstream media didn’t report what the figures actually said – they indulged their own speculation that rents will be falling soon, thereby doing what they do best, which is turning a positive into a negative.
So, what did the actual figures say?
That house rents rose in the March Quarter in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart, and they remained unchanged in Brisbane and Canberra.
The only city where they fell was, not surprisingly, Darwin, where the market continues to struggle, even before the virus crisis.
In further good news for rental markets, the New South Wales Government has announced it will be providing $440 million in rent relief for landlords and tenants across both the residential and commercial property sectors.
This will be in the form of land tax waivers and rebates.
The expectation is that this will be split evenly between business and residential landlords, with lower land taxes for landlords who reduce their tenants’ rent.
