Sydney’s rental market looks to have made up some ground following its seasonal softening over the Christmas and New Year period.
According to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW), Sydney’s vacancy rate pulled back by 0.1% to 2% over January, as the city’s market moves back on trend following a 0.4% increase over December.
REINSW President John Cunningham said the city-wide reduction in January came despite mixed conditions across Sydney.
“Vacancy rates in Inner Sydney rose 0.1% to 1.9 %, while Outer Sydney rose 0.4% to 2.3% and middle Sydney was at 1.8%, down 0.6%,” Cunningham said.
The REINSW predicts Sydney’s overall vacancy rate will remain tight, however Cunningham previously told Australian Broker's sister publication, Your Investment Property that pockets of the city could see periods of elevated vacancies.
“Come February and March a lot of those bigger apartment developments that are currently underway in the middle and inner suburbs are going to be finished,” Cunninghams said.
“That’s going to see a lot more competition in those areas for tenants and I think we’ll see an increase in the vacancy rate as a result."
Outside of Sydney, the Hunter saw a regional rise of 0.7% to 3%, driven by Newcastle’s 0.9% increase to 2.7%.
Vacancies in Albury fell 0.5% to 2.7%, while the rental market in the Northern Rivers tightened further by 0.3% to 0.7%.
The Riverina saw a 0.3% fall to 3.7%, while the Central Coast increased 0.3% to 2.8%.
The New England region saw a 0.3% increase over January to 3.6%, while on the Mid North Coast vacancies rose 0.7% to 1.8%.
