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Staff Reporter
Renters are increasingly looking to upgrade to a nicer property in a better suburb and are signing shorter-term leases to help keep their rental options open, according to a survey by realestate.com.au owner, REA Group.
The survey showed that despite a tight rental market and the arduous task of moving to a new rental property, more renters are actively monitoring the rental market, with 64 per cent saying they plan to rent a property to live in within the next twelve months.
Henry Ruiz, REA Group’s chief product officer, said renting suits people for different reasons, particularly if they are young professionals searching for a particular lifestyle.
“Compared to the cost of buying property, renting sometimes allows people to live in a nicer home in a better suburb, and they can move again if a better home becomes available," he said.
“It’s this flexibility and freedom of being able to ‘trade up’ in rental properties that appeals to this aspirational group of people,” he said.
The survey of renters and sharers also found that once a rental property is found Australians like to keep their options open, with 64 per cent taking a lease for less than 12 months, and approximately three out of four respondents leasing a property for two years or less.
Other trends to emerge from the survey included the popularity of Melbourne's inner suburbs, with five of the ten most popular rental suburbs located in the city's inner city core including Richmond, South Yarra, St Kilda and Brunswick, while 29 per cent of the nation's renters have no lease at all.
Additionally, data from online rental application service 1Form found shift workers in the healthcare, hospitality and retail sectors are the most frequent applicants for rental properties.
The realestate.com.au Consumer Insights Survey, Rent/Share, was conducted on realestate.com.au in January 2012 with 3,132 respondents taking part, REA Group said.
