Rents Increasing At Fastest Rate In 14 Years
With regional areas outpacing the capital cities.
By Terry Christodoulou
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 11:09am
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It’s not only homebuyers feeling the pocket pinch with rental rates surging by 3.2% nationally.
According to Corelogic’s Rental Review for the March 2021 quarter, the drivers of growth are diverse with the regions, Darwin and Perth collectively driving much of the increase.
Across combined regional markets, rents rose 4.1% in the first quarter of 2021 according to the report. Elsewhere rents in the combined capitals increased 2.9% by comparison.
Regional units recorded the highest quarterly rental growth of 4.8%, compared to the 2.0% rise in capital city units.
Further, capital city house rents were up 3.3% while regional houses rose by 4.0% during the period.
Darwin has shown the strongest growth in rental rates over the quarter, up 8.2% and 7.0% respectively.
Across the spectrum, Melbourne recorded the weakest growth in rents over the three months to March with house rents up 1.6%, while unit rents were unchanged over the quarter.
CoreLogic’s Research Director Tim Lawless, says “While housing rents are rising at the fastest pace since 2007, the headline reading hides the sheer diversity of rental conditions around the country. At one end of the spectrum we have Perth and Darwin where annual rental growth is well into double digits and accelerating. At the other end is Melbourne and Sydney where rents are down over the year.
“Although rents are generally rising, housing values have been rising at a faster rate which has seen rental yields compress across most of the capital cities. The exceptions are Perth and Darwin where rents have risen at a faster pace than housing values, driving a rise in yields. The opposite is true in Sydney and Melbourne where rental yields are plumbing new record lows,” added Mr Lawless.
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The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.
By Liz Lucking
Mon, Jul 13, 2026 2 min
2 min
Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.
The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.
“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”
Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.
The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”
Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.
The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.
The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.
The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”
The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”
The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”
