This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE share of total rental properties listed below $400 per week has dropped to a new low, with no real relief being provided to Australia’s renters.
According to a new PropTrack Market Insight Report, the share of rental properties listed for less than $400 per week on realestate.com.au has nearly been halved in the 12 months to April 2023.
At 16.2%, this is the lowest share of more affordable rentals on record, with the same month last year seeing a 30.2% share of all listings.
The share of listings under $400/week also reached new record lows for all capital cities, with Hobart and Darwin the exceptions, though these two capitals still saw the share halved year-on-year.
“The nation’s rental market is in dire straits, with little sign of meaningful reprieve on the horizon. Advertised rents are recording strong price increases and vacancies are at historic lows amid a shortage of rental supply,” said Eleanor Creagh, senior economist at PropTrack and report author.
This comes after the first quarter of the year saw a 2.5% increase to already elevated rents and CoreLogic’s Rental Pulse from earlier in the month reported the greatest annual increase on record, at 11.7%.
In Sydney, the share of total listings under $400/week fell from 18.95% to 9.13% over the year, with Melbourne seeing a fall from 38.64% to 16.55% and Brisbane from 26.36% to 10.89%.
In Adelaide the share of listings fell from 36.36% to 21.90%—one of the few capitals that didn’t see the share halve—while Perth saw less than a third of more affordable listings from the same time last year, down from 30.05% to 8.17%.
Perth not only recorded the sharpest decline over the year but has fallen 86% from the 59.39% share of listings in March 2020.
Hobart was down from 19.71% to 9.83%, Darwin from 13.95% to 8.74% and the ACT down from the already tight 5.34% to just 1.83% of all listings.
The combined capital cities were down from 28.14% to 11.93% over the year, which is less than a third of listings seen in March 2020 when 36.25% of listings were under $400/week.
The decline in listings under $400/week was less pronounced but still significant in the combined regions, down from 37.24% to 26.56% over the year and from 57.63% in March 2020.
“Pressure has shifted from regional areas to the capital cities – particularly in inner-city areas – as demand from overseas migration has increased,” concluded Creagh.
“Strong migration, low vacancy rates and limited new supply mean tough conditions for renters are likely to remain, with the share of $400 per week rentals set to stay low.”
