Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth have all had exceptional rises in residential rents in 2007, according to the Quarterly Domain-APM Rental Series report.

The four cities recorded rises of 17% or more in the median weekly asking rent for houses in the year to December. There were similar rises in rents for apartments in those cities, with Perth topping the list with a 25% increase in apartment rents. Sydney and Brisbane had rent rises above 10% for both houses and units.

The strong growth in rents has pushed up gross rental returns in most major cities over the past 12 months. The best rent returns on houses are found in Hobart, where the typical gross rental yield is 5%. Most other big cities have gross yields in the 4% to 4.5% range, although Perth remains well below 4%.

Typical rental returns for units in Canberra and Darwin are close to 6%, according to the Domain-APM Rental Series, with Sydney returning 5% and most other major cities around 4.8%.

However, Michael McNamara of APM says the rental squeeze appears to be easing and the rental markets stabilising after a year of very strong growth. ?There are indications that the run of strong growth in rental values is running out of puff - for now,? he says.