This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Rental yields have continued to stay low in April, according to the latest Residex April Capital City Growth Report.
According to the report, with exception to Darwin rental returns in all capital cities were below 5% in April.
Darwin‘s rent return on homes was 5.48%, while rent return on units was 6.49%.
The lowest rent return recorded in the housing sector was in Perth with a yield of 3.54%.
The lowest rent return recorded in the units sector was also in Perth with a yield of 4.06%.
In the ACT, rent return on units was 5.25%.
In Sydney, despite a rental crisis looming over the city, rent returns remained low at 3.60% for homes and 4.48% for units.
According to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales’s Residential Property Management Survey in February, the total vacancy rate stood at 2.1% in Sydney, the lowest since July 2000.
Melbourne was also another city that recorded low rental yields at 3.78% for units and 4.66% for units, despite overall vacancy rates falling.
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s March figures show Melbourne’s vacancy rates are at historically low levels.
The overall vacancy rate for established properties in Melbourne’s metropolitan area was 1.8%.
The vacancy rate in the inner-city apartment market was 3.1%.
Yardney said the low vacancy rates were great news for investors who have not been able to increase the rents on their investment properties for a number of years.