Brisbane's unit rental falls were the smallest across the nation in 2020

Brisbane unit rents fell -1.1 per cent, the lowest falls across Australia, especially compared to the Melbourne and Sydney inner city unit markets which recorded the largest falls down -7.6 per cent and -5.7 per cent in 2020 according to CoreLogic’s Rental Review for the December 2020 quarter.

Brisbane median rents were up 0.7 per cent for the month, 1.4 per cent for the quarter and 1.8 per cent for the year. Brisbane's median rental price hit $448 this month just $3 below the national median.

Brisbane house rents increased 2.7 per cent against a -1.1 per cent reduction in unit rents.

In terms of rental dollar value, Brisbane while up 0.4% this month and 0.1% this quarter was down -1.1% for the year. 

Brisbane's current median unit rent is $396, the second most affordable in the nation.

Rental conditions in regional markets have been outperforming capital cities with unit markets recording weak conditions across the largest capital cities.

December 2020 saw Australia’s dwelling market record the largest monthly increase in rental rates since 2010, up 0.6 per cent over the month. The 10 year record can be attributed to growth across the house market which saw a 0.9 per cent rise in rental rates over the month, more than offsetting a -0.1 per cent fall in unit rents.

Across the broad regions, regional markets were the standout performer with both house and unit rents up 1.1 per cent in December, taking house rents 2.9 per cent higher over the final quarter of 2020 and unit rents 2.6 per cent higher.

Unit rental rates across the capital cities fell -0.3 per cent over the month to be down -1.6 per cent over the December quarter. Despite the diverse performance over the year, national rents rose by 1.9 per cent annually in 2020, which was the largest annual increase across the dwelling market since mid-2018.