Job losses have caused an exodus of tenants across Sydney, the drop off of international students and the surge of short term accomodation now being advertised as long term leasing, are all conditions that have led to a major surge in vacancy rates.
SQM Research has revealed the total number of vacancies Australia-wide is now at 88,668 properties.
At a Glance:
- Sydney’s rental vacancy rate has blown out to 13.8 per cent
- Total rental vacancies Australia-wide at 88,668
- Asking rents for houses in capital cities has decreased nationally by 1.3 per cent
SQM research report this is one of the largest one month rises ever recorded on their vacancy rates series. Anecdotally within our own rent roll we are busy – we have 35 properties currently available which is approaching record levels for our business. Stock is still moving but landlords are having to adjust to the new world of competition in order to lease quickly.
Over time I expect we will see more renters, partly because of affordability issues but also because of lifestyle choices.
Also in a normal market Australia’s population grows by around 360,000 people per annum, meaning we need to build around 170,000-180,000 new dwellings each year to accommodate all the new households. Sure immigration will slow down for a while because we’ve closed our borders, but once life moves on, Australia will once again have a queue of people wanting to live in the best country in the world.
