The national rental vacancy rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points to 1.47% month-on-month in March – the lowest level recorded since well before the pandemic, fresh PropTrack data showed.
With less than 1.5% of rental properties now available for lease, renters would find it extremely tough to secure a home. These conditions would also result in significant rental price rises, with rents up more than 10% over the past year.
“Adelaide and Perth posted the lowest rental vacancy rates across the country – below 1%. These levels are extremely tight, with available rentals leased very quickly,” said Paul Ryan (pictured above), economist with REA Group's PropTrack.
Capital city rental markets have tightened considerably, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, where rental vacancy rates declined 0.73pp and 1.38pp over the past year, respectively.
“Post-COVID, as cities have reopened, universities have resumed face-to-face studies, and hard borders came down, the demand for city living boomed,” Ryan said. “Compounding this has been a pandemic shift to smaller households, particularly for renters, which places additional pressure on the market.”
In regional areas, rental conditions eased slightly, with rental vacancy rates lifting 0.4pp over the past year.
Renters would now find it tougher to find a home in capital cities than in regional areas.
“City rental markets have shown no signs of abating, so we may see even more difficult conditions – including continued strong rent growth – in the coming months,” Ryan said.
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