This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE national vacancy rate has remained consistent through September, sitting at the lowest vacancy rate since 2006 at 0.9%, according to SQM Research.
The current number of vacant rental residential properties in Australia sits at 33,813 properties which is an increase from a month prior where it was 32,948. In comparison to last year however it shows a dramatic decrease, where the number was 59,345 vacant properties nationally. While Sydney and Melbourne vacancy rates have stayed low at 1.3% and 1.4% respectively, their CBDs have a higher vacancy rate than the city total.
Sydney remained constant at 3.1% while Melbourne witnessed a rise to 2.3%. Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin all sit below 1% in vacancy rates while Canberra has just risen from 0.9% to 1%. Darwin has also seen a slight rise from 0.6% to 0.7%.
The tightening of the rental market has been huge in the past 12 months. Sydney and Melbourne both had over 20,000 vacant rental properties in September last year and now they don’t contain 20,000 vacant properties combined.
Capital city asking rents have continued to climb in the past 30 days leading up to today, the 12th of October, rising by 1.4% in the last month, taking the 12-month rise up to a massive 21.8%.
The national median weekly asking rent is recorded at $530.5 a week while Sydney recorded the highest weekly rent for a house at an eye-popping $854.92 a week. The best rental affordability in Australia appears to be in Adelaide where units are offered for $495.46 a week. Sydney’s percentage uprise in rental price has unsurprisingly been the highest with a rise of 25.8% as Sydneysiders struggle to cope with the constant increases. Brisbane has the second highest rise in rental price with a 23.6% increase.
SQM managing director Louis Christopher said, “Going forward, history tells us when we reach the late spring, early summer period, we could see a seasonal increase in vacancies. However there remains a structural issue with the rental market for which increases in construction of new dwellings will only resolve.”
