Residential property is back on the map. It may not deliver right away but it will deliver - and it offers the certainty of rental income in shaky times.

Australia's 1.5 million housing landlords experienced a rent boom through the financial crisis.

Across the nation, rents rose 50 per cent between the 2006 census and that of June 2011.

The surge has helped housing to become one of the best-performing asset classes of recent years. It is also changing the way investors consider houses and apartments. More weight is being given to income and less to prospective capital growth.

Peter Chittenden, managing director of residential property at Colliers International, an agency that sells around 4500 new apartments a year, has noted a renewed emphasis among prospective buyers on income.

"Buyers are asking what they can rent the property for, what is the return and what is the yield," he says. "Interest rates are low. Investors are saying, 'If I can get a good yield I can get some equity in my investment'."

Chittenden says the old rule of thumb is returning. If a property rents for $500 a week, it will sell for $500,000. In essence the yield is 5 per cent before costs.

In Maitland, Fletcher, Campbelltown and Rooty Hill of NSW, rents on Silverhall properties have grown strongly and house prices have been increasing, gross yields are now more than 6 per cent. (added by Silverhall)

At the other end of the scale, in the inner south-east of Melbourne, gross yields are less than 4 per cent, which reflects weakening rentals and the tail of the housing boom.

Of course the vast majority of housing investors are still locked into the old paradigm.

On the latest numbers, from the Australian Taxation Office for 2009-10, more than 1.1 million investors have negative-geared properties.

The strong price growth through the 2000s encouraged negative gearing. In 10 years the proportion of negative-geared investors rose from 50 per cent to 66 per cent.

The past year, however, has been hard on highly geared investors. Equity was lost as prices fell. However, this has occurred in areas where prices have fallen, a factor normally associated with a fall in demand or an oversupply.

But one thing has remained constant - the rent has always been in the account. In tight housing markets, even a week without rent is unlikely. As old tenants vacate, new tenants move in.

Silverhall provides experienced guidance and strategies for property investors. Book a free investment consultation online or call 1300 662 143 today!

Parts of the following article came from the Weekend Australian Financial Review. It has been amended by Silverhall for the purpose of this blog post.