Hobart’s median weekly rent has climbed to $600, after rising 1.7% over the June quarter.
That takes the city’s annual rent growth to 9.1%, the second-strongest of any capital city behind Perth.
The figures come from realestate.com.au’s latest market insight report, powered by property data firm PropTrack.
Units are doing most of the work. Unit rents rose 3.8% over the quarter, compared with 1.6% for houses.
Over the year the gap was similar, with unit rents up 10% against 8.6% for houses.
Regional Tasmania held flat at $500 a week over the quarter. But annual growth there hit 11.1%, outpacing Hobart itself.
Nationally, median rents reached a record high of $670 a week in June, up 3.1% over the quarter and 6.4% over the year.
Separate figures from Domain tell a similar story.
Domain has Hobart house rents at a record $625 a week, up 0.8% over the quarter.
Unit rents jumped 4% to a record $520 a week, the strongest June result in four years.
At a suburb level, Domain recorded house rents in Austins Ferry rising 16.4% over the year to $675 a week.
Battery Point was the most expensive suburb in the data at $790.
Regional centres recorded some of the biggest annual gains, led by George Town at 17.5% and Devonport at 12.8%.
A third firm, Cotality, puts Hobart’s median rent higher again at $632 a week, up 2.8% over the quarter.
REA Group economist Luc Redman said the increases were widespread.
“National median rents reached a new high in the June quarter, with widespread price growth across the capitals,” Redman said.
He said the May federal budget, which announced sweeping changes to investor tax settings, landed in the middle of the quarter, so its full impact was yet to be seen.
Redman said vacancy rates had edged higher, but that might not last.
“While the vacancy rate has edged higher, the expected decrease in investor demand due to the budget’s tax changes could slow the pace of new supply, putting further pressure on rents,” he said.
He said Hobart remained one of the most affordable capitals to rent in, alongside Melbourne.
