Received

Competition for rentals remains fierce but sky-high rents have not yet triggered a rush into new home ownership or an influx of investment.

High demand and low supply has pushed rents up 10 per cent in the major cities in the 12 months to December.

In the regions, PropTrack data shows a lift of 7.2 per cent.

Capital city listings have also sunk 26.3 per cent year on year to their lowest level since February 2003.

But while the market is experiencing a demand-supply mismatch, renters are not moving into home ownership instead.

New home loans fell 3.7 per cent for November, continuing their downward trend from record-highs in the first half of 2022.

Australian Burea of Statistics data shows lending down both for investors and first-home buyers over the month.

While home prices are falling, higher interest rates are making it expensive to borrow.

"Although property prices are decreasing and rents are increasing, it is significantly cheaper to be renting than paying off a mortgage in most cases," PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said.

But rental yields are starting to climb due to falling home prices and higher rents, hitting 3.9 per cent in December.

"Rental yields remain historically low and in many cases are offering investors very little premium over term deposit rates while property prices reduce," he said.

"It will be interesting to see if and how investors respond to improving yields."

Mr Kusher also said Sydney and Melbourne were likely to see higher rents still in 2023.

"Most of the overseas migration that will occur over the coming years will be in these two cities, which will increase demand for rental accommodation," he said.

© AAP 2023

Gallant qualifiers Max Purcell and Aleksandar Vukic have bowed out of the Australian Open on a draining day of despair and delight for the home hopes at Melbourne Park.

Purcell, Vukic and Thanasi Kokkinakis were all forced to return on Wednesday after being sent home after midnight on Tuesday to sleep on unfinished business.

With more rain delaying play for another six hours on day three, the trio had to endure another anxious and lengthy wait before resuming.

While Kokkinakis needed a matter of minutes to complete a 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini to book a second-round showstopper with five-times finalist Andy Murray, Purcell's and Vukic's Open campaigns ended in heartbreak.

When he finally managed to get back on court, Purcell - the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion with Matt Ebden - had no time to settle in against Emil Ruusuvuori.

He was trailing the Finn by two sets to one and entering a do-or-die tiebreaker in the fourth after being unable to convert either of two set points with Ruusuvuori serving at 5-4.

Purcell fended off three match points in the breaker, before fashioning two set points of his own, before finally succumbing 6-4 3-6 4-6 8-6 (13-11) on his fifth match point.

Compounding Purcell's pain was the Sydneysider's decision not to contest the doubles again with Ebden - after the pair lost last year's Open final to Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios - to instead focus all his energy on the singles.

Vukic was locked at one set all with fellow qualifier American Brandon Holt when play was stopped for the night on Tuesday with the Australian trailing 4-2 in the third.

After dropping the third set, Vukic fought back to force a decider, only to go out 6-4 1-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 in a tournament opener stretching five sets over two nights.

Jason Kubler's encouraging summer also came to an end with a spirited 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 second-round loss to 18th seed Karen Khachanov, the Russian 18th seed who beat Nick Kyrgios in last year's US Open quarter-finals.

Khachanov was serving for the second set when the pair engaged in a 70-shot rally, which ended after 90 seconds when a Kubler backhand clipped the net cord and dropped in.

Kubler watched the replay of the rally post-match and followed through on his promise to share it on his Instagram page.

"At the time I was pretty buggered but I watched it and I was hitting it so soft," Kubler said.

"I was doing all the running and Karen was the one running me around," Kubler told reporters.

"It was awesome that I ended up winning it."

John Millman and women's wildcard Olivia Gadecki were also caught up in the backlog of matches because of Melbourne's fickle weather and eventually got on court.

Millman was beaten 7-5 6-2 6-2 by two-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev, while Gadecki was thrashed 6-2 6-1 Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.

The 20-year-old, who is mentored by Ash Barty, lasted just 56 minutes.

Rinky Hijikata couldn't back up Monday's heroics, going down 6-3 6-0 6-2 to third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

© AAP 2023

How a jet engine came to fail on a Qantas flight over the Pacific Ocean will be the focus of investigations by engineers after the plane landed safely in Sydney following a mayday call.

Passengers praised the actions of the Boeing 737 pilot who had to shut down the engine after Qantas Flight 144 left Auckland early on Wednesday afternoon.

"While a mayday was initially issued, this was downgraded to a PAN (Possible Assistance Needed)," a Qantas spokesperson told AAP on Wednesday evening.

"The aircraft landed safely at around 3.30pm (AEDT) and is now being inspected by our engineers."

While "inflight engine shutdowns" are rare and concerning for passengers, pilots are trained "to manage them safely and aircraft are designed to fly for an extended period on one engine," Qantas said.

No one was hurt and all 145 passengers disembarked the aircraft normally.

Aviation expert Neil Hansford told the ABC that "Qantas has never had a passenger lost on a jet aircraft in its history".

He said Qantas engineers would be immediately investigating what may have caused the engine failure and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau would be initiating an inquiry into the incident.

Photographs taken at the airport showed one of the engines appeared to have a large panel missing from the engine cover.

The plane landed without incident and was escorted by yellow airport fire appliances to a parking bay.

Passengers told reporters an engine failed but no one onboard appeared panicked during the flight.

"I kind of heard the little bang and then a bit of turbulence, and we just thought okay, this is a bit weird," passenger Sandika McAuley said.

"But we didn't really know anything until we landed, then we got told that there was a mayday call and the engine failed."

James Mearon said he didn't realise how serious the situation was until he saw cameras waiting for passengers outside the terminal.

"Yeah it definitely was scary," he said.

Passengers praised the pilot for landing them safely and said he was there to wish them well as they departed the aircraft.

The main issue impacting passengers was that the air conditioning had stopped working, according to passenger Fiona Dunne.

"The aircon was gone so everyone was just frustrated and sweaty, I don't think there was that much panic," she said.

FlightRadar, an internet flight tracker, indicated the 10-year-old, twin-jet Boeing plane issued the distress call over the Pacific Ocean.

Federal Transport Minister Catherine King said she was relieved the plane had landed safely and lauded the airline's safety record after a scare that had 100,000 people tracking the flight online.

"Well done to the highly experienced crew for getting the plane safely home," Ms King tweeted.

"Australia's aviation industry is among the safest in the world because of the dedicated staff working on planes and behind the scenes".

The Australian and International Pilots Association (IAPA) said in a statement that such mid-air incidents were extremely rare and it was too early to speculate on the engine failure.

"We are pleased the expertly trained and professional Qantas pilots took all the right steps to deal with the incident and were able to safely land back in Sydney.

"The priority of any pilot is the welfare of our passengers and crew," IAPA said.

A mayday call is issued when a flight is in grave and imminent danger and needs immediate assistance, according to Airservices Australia, the federal agency responsible for ensuring safe air travel.

Once the call is made controllers alert aviation rescue, firefighting and emergency services with details on how to respond. They also provide assistance to pilots.

"As a precaution Sydney Airport had emergency crews on stand-by including firefighters, ambulance and police," an Airservices Australia spokesperson told AAP.

© AAP 2023