A year after the pandemic hit Canberra, foreign diplomats are returning to the capital, pushing asking rents up by double digits, especially in Deakin, where the median asking rent increased by almost 20 per cent over the year, new data reveals.
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According to the Domain Rent Report for the 2021 March quarter, the median asking rent for a house in Deakin was up 18.8 per cent year-on-year to $950 per week - the most expensive suburb in which to rent a house in Canberra.
Nalin Ratnaike of Red Brick Properties said the data reflected what he was seeing in the rental market.
"Because Canberra has really managed the outbreak of the coronavirus so well, diplomats are confident about moving back here from overseas," Mr Ratnaike said.
"They've done their quarantine and are now looking for a property to rent, and the suburbs they are looking to live in are the more established areas of the Inner South and close to their embassies such as Deakin and Red Hill."
Red Hill was the second most expensive suburb in which to rent a house in Canberra, with median asking rents up 12.5 per cent year-on-year to $900 per week.
Mr Ratnaike recently rented two four-bedroom houses in Deakin to foreign diplomats for up to $1700 per week.
"We're seeing strong demand from the diplomatic community for modern properties that are nicely presented," he said.
"We're basically back to normal here, so it's no surprise that Deakin's house rents have increased exponentially."
Canberra's rental market is moving at a similar pace to its housing market, head of property management at Belle Property Canberra, Richard Davies, said.
"Houses are selling really quickly, and there are a lot of people being priced out, especially in these areas," he said.
"These buyers are now looking for alternatives to get into the suburbs and to enrol their children in the nearby schools, too, so the next option is renting there."
Other suburbs that saw an increase in their respective median asking rents for houses included Lyons, up 16.8 per cent to $625 per week and Greenway, up 13.8 per cent to $620 per week.
Only a handful of suburbs saw median asking rents fall, Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said.
The latest figures come after Canberra house rents remained at their record high median asking rent of $600 per week, up 3.4 per cent year-on-year - the most expensive capital city in the nation.
"There's an element of transient nature in terms of population, which stalled due to COVID-19, but despite this, the lure of Canberra is strong because of how well it contained the virus," she said.
"There are very few areas that have seen declines in house rents, and I think that speaks to the tightly-held rentals at the moment and the competitiveness of the rental market."
