Source: Australian Property Journal
RENTAL properties are becoming less and less available, as the country’s rental crisis mounts the national vacancy rate continues to fall, reaching just 1%.
According to the latest data from SQM Research, in March there were just 36,868 residential rental properties available Australia-wide, down again from February’s 43,844 and last March’s 72,446.
In Sydney the vacancy rate fell to 1.6% with 12,748 vacancies, while in Melbourne the rate was at 1.9% with 12,400 vacancies, Brisbane 0.7% with 2,457 vacancies, Perth with 0.5% or 1,204 vacancies, Adelaide with 0.3% or 580 vacancies, Canberra with 0.5% or 350 vacancies, Darwin also with 0.5% or 176 vacancies and Hobart with 0.3% or 111 vacancies.
“The rental crisis has deepened with rental vacancy rates across the country falling to just 1%. As a result, market rents have exploded. Some of our capital cities and regions are recording asking rental increases in excess of 15% over the past 12 months,” said Louis Christopher, managing director of SQM Research.
Over the month to 12 April 2022, capital city asking rents bumped up 2.2% with rents rising by 11.8% over the 12-month period, with the year seeing capital city house rents rise by 14.7% and units by 11.2%.
Inner city rents have seen major increases, with CBD vacancies shrinking again, leaving asking rents in the Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD to increase respectively by 5.5% and 7.4% over the last 30 days.
While in Brisbane asking rents spiked by 15.2%, for the greatest increase in combined rental rates.
“And the recent monthly data suggests we are still not at the worst point of the crisis. We were thinking at least regional Australia may have started to have some relief as people return back to the cities,” added Christopher.
“But that has not happened as yet. Many localities and townships are recording zero vacancy rates. It is likely homelessness will be increasing in this environment.”
Brisbane also saw the greatest increase in house asking rents for the year with a 21.2% increase to $590/week, Sydney followed with a 19.1% boost to $786.9/week, Canberra with 16% to $764.9/week and Adelaide with 15.5% to $504.9/week.
Sydney unit rents increased by 10.8% to $502.6/week, Adelaide with 10.3% to $362.6/week, Brisbane with 7.9% to $416.3/week and finally Hobart with 5.7% to $450/week.
