This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RESIDENTIAL vacancy rates rose marginally in April but the rental market remains tight, according to SQM Research.
SQM Research revealed that vacancy rates were up marginally by 0.2% to 1.8% — also up 0.4% year-on-year.
Currently there are 47,787 vacancies nationally, an increase of 6,135 compared to March and an increase of 10,177 compared to April last year.
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said whilst the increase in vacancies theoretically reflects a slight relaxation in the rental market, both the national and capital cities’ vacancy rate percentages (excepting to some extent Melbourne which recorded a vacancy rate of 2.6%), are still relatively tight, exposing just to what extent the apparent Australian rental crisis is taking hold.
“With increasing interest rates and the removal of the first home owners grant, buyer reluctance is continuing to surge and with this rental occupancies are inevitably going to continue to remain low as individuals refrain from vacating rental dwellings to enter the buyer’s market,” he added.
“SQM’s rental vacancy rates highlight the endemic problem of the various rental markets around the country. There really is a shortage of rental accommodation for a number of areas and at this stage I fail to see how this problem is going to be rectified anytime soon. The current housing downturn only aggravates this problem as many would-be home buyers hold off and rent for longer durations.
“Developers also fail to get the required pre-sales for lending, and so even less new stock is built,” Christopher said.
The capital city to record the highest vacancy rate was Melbourne of 2.6% – 9558 vacancies. The capital city to record the lowest rate was Canberra of 0.6% – 328 vacancies.
The capital cities that recorded the largest month-on-month growth in vacancies were Brisbane and Hobart, both rising by 0.3% to 2.0% and 1.7% respectively.
The only capital city to record a month-on-month decline in vacancies was Darwin, dropping by 0.2% to 1.8% since March 2011. Darwin also recorded the highest year-on-year growth, surging by 0.9% to 1.8% since April 2010.
The only capital city to record a year-on-year decline was Perth, dropping by 0.1% to 1.1% since April 2010.
|
City |
Vacancies April 2010 |
Vacancy % |
Vacancies March 2011 |
Vacancy % |
Vacancies April 2011 |
Vacancy % |
|
Sydney |
6867 |
1.2 |
6448 |
1.2 |
7707 |
1.4 |
|
Melbourne |
7316 |
2.0 |
8763 |
2.4 |
9558 |
2.6 |
|
Brisbane |
4546 |
1.8 |
4289 |
1.7 |
5043 |
2.0 |
|
Adelaide |
1180 |
0.8 |
1689 |
1.2 |
2055 |
1.4 |
|
Perth |
1886 |
1.2 |
1462 |
0.9 |
1767 |
1.1 |
|
Canberra |
241 |
0.5 |
257 |
0.6 |
328 |
0.7 |
|
Hobart |
155 |
0.7 |
328 |
1.4 |
404 |
1.7 |
|
Darwin |
213 |
0.9 |
470 |
2.0 |
430 |
1.8 |
|
National |
37610 |
1.4 |
41652 |
1.6 |
47787 |
1.8 |
Australian Property Journal
