Mortgage repayments are now cheaper than rent in dozens of Australian suburbs, according to an analysis of Cotality data by Guardian Australia. This trend is attributed to high rents and falling property prices.
The analysis indicates that median rents in inner-city Melbourne, suburban Canberra, and Darwin are almost on par with weekly home loan repayments. In some suburbs, repayments are actually cheaper than rent.
Across Australia, median rent prices increased by 5.5% over the year to September, reaching $713 per week. In contrast, the median property price for houses and units remained flat over the same period, following six months of consistent declines.
In Melbourne, typical repayments for a flat were $839 a week, $211 more than the typical rent of $628 a week. However, repayments were cheaper than rent in specific Melbourne suburbs such as Carlton, Melbourne CBD, Notting Hill, Travancore, and Southbank.
Clint Waters, a Melbourne mortgage broker, noted that while home buying interest has decreased, renters are increasingly inquiring about purchasing properties as they compare lower house prices with higher rents. Gerard Burg, a Cotality researcher, suggested that areas with significant apartment development tend to be cheaper to buy than rent, particularly where flats are sold directly to owner-occupiers.