This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE national rental vacancy rate recorded its largest decline in more than a year in August, with the share of rent properties vacant and available down 54% compared to the onset of the pandemic.
According to PropTrack, the national rental vacancy rate was down 0.14% over the month to just 1.10%.
“It became even harder to rent a property in August, with the national vacancy rate falling to a new low of just 1.1%. Vacancy rates deteriorated in every capital city bar Darwin, with Canberra and Sydney seeing the sharpest drops over the month,” said Anna Flaherty, report author and economist at PropTrack.
“There are no signs rental conditions are easing, with the vacancy rate now sitting below 1% in three of Australia’s capital cities. Across Australia, the share of available rental properties has fallen by more than half since the start of the pandemic.”
In Sydney, the vacancy rate was down 0.19% to 1.26% and Melbourne down 0.10% to 1.19%.
While Adelaide’s vacancy rate was the lowest of the capitals at 0.68%, followed closely by Perth at 0.69%, Brisbane at 0.84%, Hobart at 1.51%, and the ACT with the highest rate at 1.72%.
Darwin was the only capital city to see an increase in vacancies over the month, up 0.17% to 1.70%.
“The supply of vacant rental properties in regional areas has also deteriorated, with the vacancy rate falling to just 1.1%. Regional SA and Queensland have the tightest rental markets, with vacancy sitting below 1%,” added Flaherty.
While Regional NT had the highest vacancy rate over the month, followed by Regional NSW at 1.29%, both Regional Western Australia and Tasmania were at 1.24%, Regional Victoria at 1.07%, Regional Queensland at 0.94% and Regional SA at just 0.69%.
“Rents are predicted to continue rising off the back of these incredibly low vacancy rates, which are driving up competition for properties,” concluded Flaherty.
