Rental markets remain tight across Australia
Tight residential rental markets remain the order of the day across all capital cities, led by Darwin which had just 100 properties available for rent in July, new data shows.
The national residential vacancy rate slipped 0.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent last month, to 52,901, according to SQM Research.
“The rental vacancy market remains steady as it has been for the course of this year, with the market overall favouring landlords,” managing director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher, said.
“That being said, landlords would be unwise to assume that they can lease their properties at elevated levels, as we have found instances where such properties either fail or face difficulty being leased.”
Most capital cities either remained the same or slipped marginally during July, with Canberra the only capital city to experience an increase in vacancies, climbing 0.3 per cent to 1.1 per cent, a total of 637 vacancies.
Darwin is continuing to show signals of a severe rental crisis, with less than one hundred vacancies in this capital city - recording a vacancy rate of 0.4 per cent, well below the three per cent level that SQM Research considers to be equilibrium.
Melbourne recorded the highest vacancy rate of 2.9 per cent, down marginally from the 3.0 per cent recorded in June, while Sydney’s also fell by the same margin to 1.8 per cent.
Perth remained at 0.7 per cent, with 1,301 properties available for rent in July, while Hobart also recorded no change, remaining at 2.7 per cent. Adelaide came in at 1.6 per cent for July, down 0.1 per cent from June, while Brisbane eased by the same margin to 1.5 per cent.
SQM said its calculations of vacancies are based on online rental listings that have been advertised for three weeks or more compared to the total number of established rental properties.