Thursday May 8, 12:12 PM
NSW rents rising faster than wages
The latest snapshot of the housing market in New South Wales has shown rents are rising faster than wages.
It is the sixth consecutive quarter the median rent for a two bedroom unit has increased by $10.
In Canterbury, rents have gone up by 19 per cent over the past year, while in Marrickville, Randwick and Ku-ring-gai the rise is 18 per cent.
Housing Minister Matt Brown says the latest figures for the March quarter have confirmed the dire situation faced by many renters.
"The CPI last year was 3.9 per cent, whereas the median rent for a two bedroom unit in Sydney has gone up some 12.5 per cent," he said.
Mr Brown says the problem is not just confined to Sydney or New South Wales.
"Rents are going up across the nation," he said.
"One of the main reasons is there's just not enough investment. No one person has the silver bullet to change all this."
But he says the State Government's not about to lower land taxes.
"Our land tax is competitive to other states, so it's not that people are shopping around," he said.
He says there is financial assistance for eligible renters trying to get into the market |
