Brighter Buying

National rental update: rents rise, vacancies drop

by Dylan Penny, Property Manager 9 September 2021

Australia’s rental market is continuing to favour landlords with vacancies tightening and rents on the rise.

Brisbane houses have seen more than 11 per cent growth in rental prices in the year to August. Units have seen growth of 4.3 per cent over the same time, reports SQM Research.

Low vacancies were also observed by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland in its June 2021 quarter data. It noted Brisbane city vacancies had dropped from 2.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent over the quarter while Moreton Bay also remained tight at 0.7 per cent.

SQM Managing Director Louis Christopher said the tightening conditions could be due to landlords in some areas opting for short term Airbnb options, rather than longer term tenancies, but a more balanced market could be ahead.

“Current tight rental vacancy rates are driving up rents across Australia,” he said.

“It is somewhat perplexing to see both regional Australia and the capital cities record surges. Given the ongoing international border closures and still relatively high completions, the national rental market should be at least more balanced.

“That may well still happen if lockdowns persist through to summer as it is likely many people living in Sydney and Melbourne may attempt to move elsewhere.”

Check out how rental prices have changed around Australia’s capital cities.

Annual rental growth in houses to August 2021

  • Darwin 25.3%
  • Canberra 13.7%
  • Perth 12.9%
  • Brisbane 11.2%
  • Sydney 10.2%
  • Hobart 9.8%
  • Adelaide 9.1%
  • Melbourne -0.4%

Annual rental growth in units to August 2021

  • Darwin 29.0%
  • Perth 13.9%
  • Canberra 9.0%
  • Hobart 8.3%
  • Adelaide 5.3%
  • Brisbane 4.3%
  • Sydney 0.1%
  • Melbourne -6.5%

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