Tenants are holding more power as vacancies trend upwards nationwide.
New figures from SQM Research show rental vacancies remained stable for August, with a national vacancy rate of 2.3%. But while vacancies didn’t move over the month, SQM said the result reflects a sluggish rental market that has seen the balance of power shift toward tenants.
Canberra was the only capital city that saw movement above 0.1%, with the vacancy rate rising from 2.1% to 2.3%. Perth saw its vacancy rate increase significantly on a year-on-year basis, rising 1%. Darwin recorded the lowest vacancy rate among capita cities at 1.5%, though the result is up 0.6% year-on-year.
“National vacancy rates continue to gradually trend upwards and I fail to see this trend changing anytime soon. The cities of Perth, Darwin and Sydney will keep the momentum upwards on the national result. The Perth result is becoming increasingly alarming and it seems to me things are going to get worse in that city for landlords before they get better. This is also n top of recent record building approvals released for WA,” SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said.
