The average cost of renting a home in Perth grew the most in the December quarter across all capital cities, according to new Core Logic data.
Australian capital cities recorded a 2.3 per cent growth in rental values in the December quarter, down from 2.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
Perth showed the strongest growth for the month of December at 1.2 per cent, as well as the biggest quarterly growth at 3.2 per cent.
Perth was the only capital city to record an increase in the rate of quarterly growth, with Sydney dropping 0.2 of a percentage point on the previous quarter.
Other capital cities have seen much steeper declines, with Adelaide shedding 2.2 percentage points and Brisbane 1.6 percentage points over the same period.
Rental squeeze continues
The cost of renting in Perth grew 11.2 per cent over the past year, averaging $553 per week.
Brisbane recorded the highest annual growth in rents at 13.4 per cent followed by Adelaide at 12.9 per cent and Sydney at 11.4 per cent.
Perth continues to have one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country at 0.5 per cent, down from 1.1 per cent a year ago.
Western suburbs most expensive
Dalkeith, Cottesloe and Swanbourne in Perth's western suburbs topped the list of most expensive suburbs to rent in Perth overall.
Orelia, Shoalwater and Baldivis in Perth's south were the cheapest.
For those who want a house, Dalkeith was the most expensive place to find one while the cheapest homes were available in Armadale in Perth's south-east.
Meanwhile Ardross was the most expensive place to rent a unit, while the southern suburb of Orelia was the cheapest.
Low vacancy rate pushed prices up
Core Logic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said Perth's tight vacancy rate had pushed rental values up.
"Over the past few years, we've actually seen the amount of rental stock advertised in the Perth market trend down," Ms Ezzy said.
"We've seen some of the lowest amounts of available rental properties since about 2013."
Ms Ezzy said they saw more children moving out of home and couples leaving share houses during the COVID period, which was fuelling housing demand, but as prices increased, that trend may reverse.
"Now that we are seeing affordability constraints come to their peak, we have no data to suspect this yet, but we would imagine that a bit of (those) dynamics would start to unravel as affordability continues to become a larger concern for people."
