NSW rental stock continues decline as Sydneysiders go west
The continuation of Sydneysiders leaving the big smoke for other parts of NSW has once again firmed up rental stock in certain areas, new research has found.
The REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey results show that for the month of February 2021, vacancy rates across much of the state continued to remain tight as more look to take advantage of homes outside the Sydney market.
You’re out of free articles for this month
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Rates in Albury dropped to 0.7 per cent, from 0.8 per cent in January, as did Central West at 0.8 per cent in February, from 0.9 in January. The Northern Rivers area also saw a drop to 0.6 per cent, from 1.4 per cent in January,
The Murrumbidgee and New England areas saw the biggest drops – to 0.9 per cent in February from 1.5 per cent in January, and 2.0 per cent in February from 2.7 per cent in January, respectively.
“Rates in the Albury, Central West, Murrumbidgee, New England, Northern Rivers and South East areas all dropped in February,” REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said.
“Feedback from our members in these areas indicates that stock is extremely tight, as tenants continue to exit the Sydney residential rental market to secure a property that suits both their budget and desired lifestyle.”
On the opposite side of the scale, vacancy rates in the Central Coast, Coffs Harbour and Riverina areas remained stable across the month of February. Meanwhile, the Mid North Coast, Orana and South Coast areas each experienced a slight uptick in the availability of rental accommodation.
When it comes to the state’s capital, vacancies for Sydney now sit at 3.1 per cent overall.
“Sydney’s Inner Ring dropped to 3.7 per cent, a decrease of 1.1 per cent for the month,” Mr McKibbin said.
“Similarly, the Outer Ring dropped by 0.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent.
“Bucking the trend, the Middle Ring remained relatively stable, experiencing only a slight 0.1 per cent rise to 4.3 per cent.
“Some of this downward movement may be due to families making decisions to move ahead of the start of the new school year and university students converging on the city for another year of study.
“However, if the last 12 months have taught us anything, it’s that the residential rental market remains unpredictable, moving up and down month after month.”