Perth 15 January 2015. Data out today from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show Perth rents dropped further in December.

The REIWA figures show the median rent for the metropolitan area dropping by $10 to around $440 per week.

REIWA president David Airey said the price shift was more noticeable in apartments and villas and less so with houses.

“Houses are typically holding a rental median of $450 per week, while units, apartments and villas have dropped to a median of around $420 per week,” Mr Airey said.

Perth’s vacancy rate has lifted to 4.2 per cent, with about 6,300 rental properties on the market.

Mr Airey said a vacancy rate of 3 per cent is considered normal, so the current rate is high and was largely being driven by slowing population growth in response to fewer jobs.

“The increase in stock over the past two years can be directly attributed to the rapid turnaround in migration which peaked in the year to September 2012. The latest reading of WA’s population growth for the year to June 2014 has it falling to its lowest level in eight years,” Mr Airey said.

REIWA data show the stock of property for lease rose by 10 per cent in the December quarter and is up by 37 per cent on a year ago.

“The available rental stock bottomed-out at around 2,100 dwellings in September 2012 and has grown by 200 per cent since then, lifting the vacancy rate from 1.8 per cent to more than 4 per cent over the last couple of years.

“Areas which experienced the strongest increases in rental listings last year included Belmont, Kwinana, Armadale and the northwest corridor of Wanneroo.

“While the biggest annual changes in median rent included Perth City (down $65), Vincent and Stirling South-east (down $50), Mundaring (down $45), Wanneroo South (down $40), Serpentine/Jarrahdale, Stirling West and the Western Suburbs (all down $30), along with Canning and Cockburn, both down $25 per week on a year ago,” Mr Airey said./2.

Armadale remains the most affordable area for rents with a median of $370 per week.