“Securing a rental was almost like a battle, with 50 to 100 people coming to each [open].” Now, Travers says: “I’ve basically had my pick of properties everywhere I’ve looked. There’s no one at the inspections. The landlords are dropping prices.” She’s still receiving notifications from agents reducing rents on properties she’s viewed. “They’ve had 10 open homes and still haven’t rented it.” For renters used to doing hand-to-hand combat with agents and other potential tenants it’s like a waking dream. While Travers' experience is far from the everyday, pockets of the Sydney and Melbourne rental markets are softening.

Dr Nicola Powell, data scientist, Domain Group, says of data on median advertised rents for the year to June 2018: “We’re already seeing certain regions of Sydney present opportunities for tenants and we’re certainly seeing rent prices decline. “In the lower north shore rents for houses and for units have tracked backwards compared to last year and it’s the only area in Sydney that has seen annual rental prices decline year-on-year for houses (minus 4.5 per cent) and for units (minus 3.2 per cent).” Rents are also falling year-on-year for houses in the city and east (minus 5.5 per cent), the north-west (minus 2.3 per cent), northern beaches (minus 1 per cent) and the upper north shore (minus 0.6 per cent) and on units in suburbs such as Gordon (minus 9.2 per cent), Turramurra (minus 7.2 per cent), Kellyville (minus 5.4 per cent), Cremorne Point (minus 5.1 per cent) and Earlwood (minus 4.5 per cent). The Melbourne market is proving more resilient. “In all areas of Melbourne rents for houses and units are increasing compared to last year.” Drill down to the suburb level and there’s signs of softening. Rents for houses fell year-on-year in Cremorne (minus 5.1 per cent), Hampton East (minus 5 per cent), Sandringham (minus 4.5 per cent) and Surrey Hills (minus 3.9 per cent) and for units in Caulfield East (minus 19.4 per cent), Middle Park (minus 3.1 per cent) and Lilydale (minus 3 per cent).

In Sydney’s north-west, suburbs such as Marsden Park, where streets of new properties are up for rent, some agents are offering two weeks rent-free or rent by negotiation. It’s a sign of the times, says Powell. “We’re now moving into a time where landlords and property managers will have to differentiate their properties from others on the market in order to secure and attract tenants.” Tenants' unions say it’s still far from a renters’ market. Leo Patterson Ross, senior policy officer, Tenants’ Union of NSW, says data showing falling rents doesn’t necessarily translate into lower rents for tenants on the move. “People looking to rent are often moving from a place that they moved into a year or more ago so they will still experience a rent rise from their current place to their new place.”

Median data can also be influenced by rent falls at the higher end of the market, he adds. Its rent tracker tool is a good way to see how the market is shifting. It collates data of rental bonds lodged with NSW Fair Trading in the past three months to show the median weekly rent for a particular postcode. The tool also shows the range of bonds lodged for that postcode. “If you have that information you are much better informed and you can make a better comparison.” Bargaining power

Could a softening market bring in more flexibility on lease terms; making improvements; or accommodating a beloved fur-child? Patterson Ross says experience in the Perth market suggests it won’t necessarily be easier for tenants with pets. Longer leases, however, could be a possibility. Currently, only a fraction of leases are longer than 12 months. Where he sees most likelihood of a shift is in minor alterations to a rental property. In NSW the Residential Tenancies Act now allows tenants to ask for minor alterations and landlords can’t unreasonably refuse. Travers asked for a few things to be dealt with before she moved into her new home. Eighteen months ago, she says: “I wouldn’t have said anything.” In Victoria Devon LaSalle, communications officer, Tenants Victoria, says rents may be softening in the more gentrified, higher income areas where there is less competition. But in the mid and outer suburbs of Melbourne where there are more affordable rental properties, conditions are still ripe for rental bidding.

“There are a lot of tenants who feel they have no other choice but to offer a higher amount than the advertised price and even, at times, a higher amount than they can actually afford, just in order to get 'affordable’ housing',” she says. Tenants Victoria would like to see its state government follow-through on the promises made in October last year to reform the Residential Tenancies Act by introducing legislation to ban no-reason evictions and rental bidding as well as investigating the legislation of minimum property standards. “There’s a disproportionate number of renters who live in housing that is of a poor standard and that is unsafe,” says LaSalle, highlighting inadequate heating and cooling of properties and issues such as mould and other biotoxins. On the hunt for a new rental? There are a few tools that could be handy.