MEDIA RELEASES

• A rental crisis is developing in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that will drive strong growth in rents
• While house prices are expected to remain subdued in the next few years, rents will skyrocket by as much as 40% in Sydney over the next decade due to undersupply
• Perth and Darwin will be the leading cities for house price growth, while other capital cities will gain only modest growth in the next few years
• Tightening vacancy rates and skyrocketing rents will entice investors back into the market
• Slow construction turnaround times mean there won't be an increase in housing supply until 2009 -10
• Over the next five years the underlying demand for residential housing in Australia will be 165,000 homes and the predicted nationwide shortfall is 74,000 homes
• Median house prices in Perth and Darwin would grow about 20%
• The Perth market is likely to peak in six months as the prices have risen over 250% in 10 years, so a correction is likely to happen
• Affordability would remain an issue in Sydney until at least 2008, while house price growth would be relatively subdued
• A tight labour market and strong wages growth would mean an interest rate rise of 0.25% in August or soon after

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