National residential vacancies have picked up in November, recording a vacancy rate of 2.2% across the capital cities.
According to the figures released by SQM Research, the number of vacancies reached 65,777 in the month, up 0.1% from October. However, vacancies appear to be following the common seasonal trends expected at this time of year. The most predominant of these factors is that University sessions have finished for the year, seeing many students vacate their rental accommodation over the summer.
Perth and Darwin have continued to record alarming increases in vacancies, whilst many of the other capital cities have remained stable year-on-year. However, Hobart and Melbourne have recorded yearly declines.
According to SQM Research’s managing director Louis Christopher, Perth and Darwin are still trying to recover into a post mining boom economy.
“The reasons for the rises in Darwin and Perth are pretty clear in the sense that it is related to the ongoing mining downturn, causing a lot of loss of employment, particularly temporary/contract jobs.”
Meanwhile, Christopher believes the falls in Hobart most likely relate to the recovery in its local economy, in turn being benefited from the lower Australian dollar helping its local tourist industry.
The declines in Melbourne on the other hand, have been a little more difficult to assess, but Christopher suggests that “this may be a result of a brief lull in construction activity, or possible a recent surge in its local population.”
