This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RENTAL properties available for under $400 a week have dropped by 50% in the last year alone in Australia’s capital cities.
According to the latest figures from PropTrack, only 5.9% of capital city property rentals now cost less than $400/week.
This is starkly contrasted to the one in five house rentals in Sydney that cost less than $400/week at the start of the pandemic. This figure now comes in at a shocking one in 50.
While in Melbourne, just one in 25 house rentals now cost less than $400/week.
“Affordable rental options are vanishing across the country, with the number of rental properties available for under $400 a week hitting a new record low in April,” said Paul Ryan, senior economist at PropTrack.
“At the start of the pandemic, 43.2% of Australia’s rental properties cost less than $400 a week. That figure has plummeted to just 10.4%, which is a third lower than this time last year.”
Nationally, the share of rental properties available below this rate has been cut by a third annually.
The ACT has just a 2.1% share of properties listed under this rate, followed by Sydney at 3.8% and Perth at 5.6%, Melbourne at 7.0%, Brisbane at 7.8%, Adelaide at 9.5%, Darwin at 10.7% and Hobart at 10.9%.
With Melbourne recording the largest annual decline in the share of houses listed for less than $400/week, followed by Adelaide and Sydney.
The market is increasingly dire for regional Australian renters as well, with just 16.3% of houses now listed for under $400/week.
Regional Western Australia had the smallest share of properties listed below this rate at 14.8%, followed by regional Queensland at 15.8% and regional NSW at 21.5%.
“Near record-low vacancy rates, reflecting strong demand and limited new supply, has created exceptionally challenging conditions for renters. This is particularly problematic for lower income households for whom almost no rental properties are affordable, highlighting the critical need for an increase in the supply of housing,” added Ryan.
“The imbalance between rental demand and supply has seen rental properties listed under $400 drop across all markets except Darwin, and without any meaningful action to improve rental supply we can expect to see this trend remain and price increases endure.”
The rental crisis is reportedly only driving inflation concerns, as the Reserve Bank is expected by many to hike rates again to address inflation after holding rates again at 4.35% at its last meeting.
With annual rent inflation up to 7.8%, its highest reading in 15 years, as rents surge and vacancies hover around historic lows.
