00:02After paying for food, books and living costs, uni student Heath Clark hasn't got much left
00:09to live on.
00:09I pull in enough to get through covering the rent and stuff, but not enough to get ahead.
00:15Domain's latest research shows rents are at record highs in all capital cities, driven
00:22by demand for houses, up 7.7% in the past year and 5.2% in the regions. At
00:30$850 a week,
00:32Sydney is the most expensive city, after recording the largest quarterly jump for houses in four
00:38years. Darwin overtook Perth to become the second least affordable city.
00:44When it comes to units, Sydney again tops the list, followed by Perth, Brisbane and Darwin.
00:50What we have seen, particularly over the recent quarter, is an amalgamation of everything
00:55happening, in terms of strong rates of population growth, an undersupply of housing, as well
01:01as rate hikes.
01:02The national vacancy rate for both houses and units remains under 1%, with Darwin as low as
01:090.1 of a percent. It means renters are competing for fewer properties, giving landlords the room
01:16to raise rents.
01:17This is really a story about supply conditions being a problem for a number of years now,
01:23and that's just continuing.
01:25Nicola Powell says it's too early to say whether the government's tax changes will push
01:30rents up further.
01:31We are likely to see fewer new investors coming into the rental space, which will eventually
01:37tighten rental supply.
01:39Meaning renters like Heath can expect things will get worse, before they get better.
01:43But then, I can take a closer look at the end of the house.
01:44We're good at that, we're good at that.
01:44We're good at that, you know.
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