Perth's median asking rent has stalled at $750 a week, and with the city's rental vacancy rate tightening further, tenants should not expect relief any time soon, according to new data.
Domain's quarterly Rent Report, released this week, shows rental price growth has stalled in Perth even as property prices fall across the city. Domain's chief residential economist, Dr Nicola Powell, said more rental supply was needed for prices to come down.
"For rent prices to go down, we really need to see more rental supply," she said, adding that falling property prices were a deterrent for investors, who typically rely on capital growth.
"If property prices are stalling or falling, that also becomes the deterrent of looking elsewhere."
Powell said Perth rents had risen 67 per cent over the past five years, and the city's rental market remained extremely tight. The vacancy rate is sitting at 0.4 per cent, down from 0.5 per cent in the June quarter.
She said the reduction in listings showed tenants were staying put rather than testing the market.
"Listings reducing signals a high level of demand," she said. "We may be seeing that some tenants are just rolling over their leases rather than finding a new one."
Powell said the high price point and cost-of-living pressures across WA and Australia had significant social impacts, with adult children staying at home for much longer because they could not afford or secure a lease.
"That flow on impact changes how we use our homes, what we need from our current homes, and also what a renter needs when they first move out of home."
Western Australia has brought in incentives to attract workers from interstate and overseas to build more homes, but Powell said the key to easing the rental market was more housing supply overall.