Brighter Landlording

Rental vacancy rates are getting tighter

by Kate Watt, Marketing Manager 2 February 2021

In December 2020 just over 6,000 rental homes sat vacant in Brissie - which sounds like a lot - but it equates to a pretty tight rental vacancy rate of 1.8 per cent.

At the same time last year, Brissie’s rental vacancy sat at 2.9 per cent, showing the number of vacant properties has reduced over the past 12 months, according SQM data.

This is good news for landlords in need of a tenant. The news remains good for Brissie renters too with prices still relatively affordable. As we reported last week our weekly median price per room of $180 is cheaper than Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart.

Nationally, Australia’s rental market is pretty tight, with the exception of Sydney and Melbourne which are suffering the effects of high CBD vacancies – earning apartments investors in these capitals the dubious title of the rental market “losers of 2020” from Property Update.

Investors outside of the southern capitals did much better and the pandemic-prompted move away from cities also saw some of the best annual growth ever in the regions as well as Darwin and Perth.

While there are signs that CBD rental markets are already seeing a comeback, tenants could continue to enjoy good renting conditions.

“Demand for inner city property will remain affected by the closure of the international border as well as ongoing caution on future city lockdowns,” says Property Update.

“This will mean 2021 will remain largely a tenant’s market in the inner cities but will also very much remain a landlord’s market for regional Australia.”

Check out the December 2020 vacancy rates across Australia’s capital city markets, from SQM.

  • Melbourne 4.7 per cent
  • Sydney 3.6 per cent
  • Brisbane 1.8 per cent
  • Canberra 1.1 per cent
  • Perth 0.9 per cent
  • Darwin 0.9 per cent
  • Hobart 0.6 per cent
  • Adelaide 0.7 per cent

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