00:00 Well, like with interest rates, rents tend to move with income growth over time.
00:08 So during the pandemic period, things like a massive fiscal stimulus package for households
00:14 and more recently, a tight labour market and rising wages are things that have empowered
00:20 renters to kind of break up their share houses, spread out across the rental market.
00:25 And that's kind of also led to the absorption of a lot of rental supply, which is part of
00:30 why the market is so tight at the moment.
00:33 So if people are feeling less confident about their economic circumstances, if income growth
00:38 starts to slow down and rents persist at this very high level, we might start to see some
00:44 of those share houses reforming or people moving to more affordable areas.
00:49 I think we definitely saw that in 2022 compared to 2021.
00:54 So all of that will probably slow rental growth overall.
00:58 But really what we need is not relying on these demand driven shifts from tenants.
01:02 We need certainly more supply to be delivered to the housing market.
01:07 The recent rise in investor activity might be a positive for renters.
01:11 But even looking at the past few decades, I think what is most needed is a strong, consistent
01:19 supply of social housing, because that helps to create a buffer for those who are more
01:24 vulnerable in the rental market when we do go through these big fluctuations in supply
01:29 and demand.
01:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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