Tightening hits both capitals and regional areas
Australia’s rental market experienced a further squeeze in February, with the national vacancy rate dropping by 0.12 percentage points to a new low of 1.07%, according to a new PropTrack report.
This tightening of rental availability affected both capital cities and regional areas, with capitals experiencing a sharper decline, as revealed in the latest PropTrack Market Insight.
Vacancy rates in capital cities fell to 1.04%, lower than the 1.14% observed in regional areas, marking a shift from the trends of 2020 to 2022.
Sydney and Melbourne, in particular, reported record low vacancy rates following declines of 0.18 and 0.16 percentage points, respectively. Perth and Adelaide were noted as the two tightest rental markets in the country, continuing a trend of sub-1% vacancy rates that began in 2022.
Despite some signs of easing in early to mid-2023, regional markets have also seen reduced availability, with vacancy rates now 0.22 percentage points lower than the previous year.
“Rental markets are proving extremely challenging for renters, with very limited availability across most of the country,” said Paul Ryan (pictured), senior economist at PropTrack. “February saw rental vacancy rates decline further.
“With rental market conditions extremely tight, competition for rentals is likely to remain tough. In the near-term, that is likely to continue to put pressure on rents and further strain rental affordability, which is already at its worst level in at least 17 years.”
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