Two Australian capital cities have continued to record alarming increases in residential vacancies, new data has revealed.
Residential vacancy rates in Perth and Darwin rose to 4.1% and 4.2% in December 2015 – more than tripling the vacancy rate in Hobart, which recorded the tightest rental market at a vacancy rate of 1.1%. Sydney’s vacancy rate came in at 2.1% and Melbourne’s was recorded at 2.8%, according to the data from SQM Research.
In conjunction with surging vacancy rates, Darwin has recorded a fall in asking rents of 12.3% for houses and 11.2% for units over the past 12 months. Perth also recorded significant yearly falls with asking rents down 9.6% for houses and 9.7% for units.
Not surprisingly, Hobart recorded the fastest rental rises for the capital cities with asking rents rising 6.9% for houses. Rents for units on the other hand underperformed, falling by 1.6% over 2015.
Managing director of SQM Research, Louis Christopher, says Perth and Darwin are continuing to struggle against commodities downturn.
“This is as a result of a combination of factors including the strong upswing in residential dwelling construction which commenced back in 2013 and will continue on into 2016; as well as the commodities downturn which has hurt the economies of Perth and Darwin.”
However, Hobart still has the most affordable rental accommodation with rents for houses at just $340 a week, while units on average rent for $270 a week. By comparison, houses rent for $565 a week in Darwin and $479 in Perth, on average. Renting a unit costs $458 in Darwin and $376 in Perth.
