Housing rents decline

Housing rents have suffered the biggest annual decline on record, dragged down by steep falls in mining cities.
Weekly rents across capital cities are 0.6 per cent lower over the year to June, according to the CoreLogic RP Data rental review.
That’s the sharpest fall for two decades, dating back to 1996 when the series began.
The national average is being depressed by the end of the mining boom, which has pushed rents down massively over the past year, by 16.2 per cent in Darwin and 8.6 per cent in Perth.
Rent growth was slow in other capitals including Melbourne, where rents rose 1.7 per cent, and Sydney, where they rose by 0.4 per cent.
Tenants are paying significantly more in Hobart, where rents rose 4.6 per cent on an annual basis. – AAP