New data reveals Australian weekly rents surge far beyond federal Treasury forecasts

Warrawee rents have increased by more than $100 a week.ANALYSISRents have soared across Australia for a number of years, but asking rents seem to have a fresh rocket under them since the federal government’s budget night changes in May.The latest quarterly rent figures, released in an exclusive research report by realestate.com.au, show strong price increases over the three months to September at a national level.Senior economic analyst for realestate.com.au Megan Lieu said rents aren’t expected to moderate without a large increase in new supply.“With the new budget policies coming into play, we could see investor activity decline and that could have an impact on rent prices too,” Ms Lieu said.The severity of rental increases has differed by city and state, but the clear trend is that they are on the rise.MORE:Bank blow set to rule out RBA rate hikeSenior economic analyst Megan Lieu.The Treasury released estimates in May projecting that the negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms would only push rents up by $2 per week.In Sydney, rents have shot up by $200 a week in some areas, with the median rent sitting at $800 per week at the end of last quarter. Apartment rents climbed ...