Rents are dropping as more tenants become first home buyers

A change in the housing market is helping Sydney tenants save big on rent. Landlords are cutting their prices by up to $150 per week, $7800 a year, in some city pockets.

More tenants are becoming first home buyers, resulting in a wave of new rental homes becoming available and the need for landlords to drop their rent.

Median Sydney rent dropped 1% over the past quarter and 2% over the past year, with rents in some regions recording even larger falls. Data from CoreLogic.

Rents on Lane Cove houses dropped nearly 10% over the year, while rents on Mosman houses fell an average 7%.

The rent drop resulted in average savings of approximately $100 per week in Lane Cove and $150 per week in Mosman.

Rents in Cumberland council area dropped almost 4% or $20 per week. Cumberland includes the suburbs Granville, Holroyd and Lidcombe.

The falls in rent came as Sydney house prices increased 3.5 per cent over the last quarter.

The price drops were partly driven by increased first home buyer activity, with ABS stats showing first-time purchases reached a seven-year high over August.

Head of research at CoreLogic Tim Lawless said the first-homebuyer surge coincided with an increase in rental properties, offering more options for fewer tenants.

SQM Research director Louis Christopher said the market could get even better for tenants as there is still a long pipeline of new housing getting released.

Read the full article on news.com.au: https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/rents-are-dropping-as-more-tenants-become-first-home-buyers/news-story/4cbe086e6e3b4722da855738e00f87e2.

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