A SHORTAGE of new home construction is pushing rents up more than nine times the rate of inflation, a development lobby group says. Average Sydney rents rose by $10 a week in the past three months, and by $20 a week in the past year, quarterly figures compiled by the Real Estate Institute show. According to Urban Taskforce Australia, which represents property developers, the median weekly rent for a two bedroom home in inner-city Sydney suburbs is now $540 a week – $25 more than what it was three months ago.
