The Canberra suburbs where rental prices rose and fell the most

Campbell units and Garran houses have come out on top with the highest median rental price growth year-on-year out of all Canberra suburbs, while Deakin units and houses plummeted with the biggest decline in the 12 months to June 2020.

According to the Domain Rent Report for the June quarter, Campbell units recorded a suburb growth of 16 per cent over the year to a median rental price of $580 per week.

When compared against the previous five years, Campbell had a 93.3 per cent spike.

Domain senior research analyst Dr Nicola Powell attributed the suburb’s growth to a number of developments that have been built in recent years.

“Prior to the developments that occurred in Campbell, the units available to rent were much older stock and would command a much lower rental price, so it’s a change in the quality of unit rentals available,” Dr Powell said.

“The new developments now in Campbell include Campbell 5, Seventy One and Iskia … there are a lot of developments that have been built in the last few years, the facilities have changed and all of Campbell, in a way, has gentrified.”

According to property manager Mitchell Cross of PRD Canberra, the growth in Campbell unit prices has been driven by young professionals and students.

“We’re seeing a lot of mature-age students who also working and young professionals move to Campbell and that has made units there quite competitive to secure,” Mr Cross said.

When looking at houses, Garran had median rental price growth of 15.8 per cent over the year to $698 per week. 

Mr Cross attributed the growth in Garran to families wanting to be closer to the local schools, including Garran Primary School – a school highly regarded on Google Reviews for its amenities, location and teachers.

“It’s also close to the hospital so families with healthcare professionals want to be close to their workplace,” Mr Cross said.

“It’s quite a sought-after suburb and it isn’t often that we have listings pop up in the area, so the demand definitely outweighs the supply and that is driving those prices up.”

Meanwhile, rental prices for houses and units in Deakin took a hit year-on-year with prices falling by 8.6 per cent to $800 per week for houses and dipping by 8 per cent to $608 per week for units.

Property manager Rachel Tynan of Blackshaw Tuggeranong, who has rental listings across all of Canberra, said the downfall in rental prices could be attributed to the economic fallout from the pandemic.

“The pandemic had caused a lot of people to be out of work so high-end priced properties are a little out of reach for some people at the moment,” Ms Tynan said.

“We saw families and professionals who were renting units and houses relocate to more affordable areas because of COVID-19.”

Mr Cross said despite the pandemic, PRD Canberra experienced strong inquiries over the last quarter.

“Typically by June and July, it’s relatively quiet, possibly because it’s winter but now, [with] COVID-19, I was expecting our rental market to take a big hit but it’s quite the opposite,” Mr Cross said.