Surging rental yields to result in new generation of inner city residential developments

SURGING RENTAL YIELDS TO RESULT IN NEW GENERATION OF INNER CITY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS

The property investment market for the inner city residential area is now being giving a major boost due to surging rental returns for apartments and units.

Figures produced by Australian Property Monitors show that Perth has the fastest growing rental yields for apartments of any capital city in Australia according to James Limnios, CEO of The Limnios Property Group.

Mr Limnios said the inner city property market was entering a ‘perfect storm’, similar to conditions in 2004/2005 which preceded the last property boom.

Mr Limnios said that rental yields for apartments and units during the last year in Perth jumped by 13% which was nearly four times as fast as Sydney (3.8%) and three times higher than Brisbane (4.2%).

 

Source: Australian Property Monitors

“Rental yields for apartments in Perth (5.16%) are now higher than Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and I expect this trend to be translated into greater activity by developers building residential complexes in Perth to cater for the growing demand for stock by investors. However, it takes a significant period of time for apartment developments to gain necessary approvals and complete construction so demand will outstrip supply for the foreseeable future.

“Based on current trends, Limnios Property Group projects that rental yields will increase by more than 10% during 2012 based on competitive property prices and surging weekly rents.

“The last time rental yields surged by similar high rates was during 2004/2005 when there was also a server shortage of properties for lease which inturn resulted in a property boom as investors surged back into the market during 2006/2007. Astute property buyers should now be purchasing properties while they are still competitively priced and pre-empt the market,” he said.

Mr Limnios added that typical home opens for rental properties in the inner city were now attracting on average more than 20 visitors. 

“Our company is now finding that typical two bedroom apartments which rented for around $450 in early 2011 are now achieving weekly rents of $520 in early 2012 – an overall increase of 15% in weekly rents.

“A major reason for this growth in weekly rents is that the supply of inner city apartments has been relatively limited over the last four years due to the impact of  Global Financial Crisis and developers have found it challenging to secure funding from financial institutions for new apartment projects.

“Over the last year our rental vacancy rate has fallen from above 5% to nearly 0% because of the influx of people moving in the city centre. These people are mainly sophisticated city dwellers who wish to enjoy the unique lifestyle that inner city living offers.

“If the demand for rental accommodation continues to outstrip supply at current rates, then the median weekly rents for residential properties located within a 5 kilometre radius of the Perth CBD could increase by up to 15% during the coming year.

“Limnios Property Group is now recording a rental vacancy rate of just 0.3%. Our company has been managing rental properties in the near city area for approximately 40 years and this is one of the lowest rental vacancy rates we have registered during this three decade period.

“Over the last year our rental vacancy rate has fallen from above 5% to nearly 0% because of the influx of people moving to Western Australia due to the massive new investment in the resources sector. Historically, these new migrants favour near city areas to rent a property because it is closer to the CBD.

“Most of the growth in this median weekly rent has occurred during the last six months due to the rapidly declining vacancy rates over this period.

“At current rates of rental growth, investors will be able to purchase an inner city apartment with the view to quickly positively gearing property.

“These surging rents will attract property investors back into the inner and near city market during the coming year especially as interest rates are expect to fall even further,” he said.