Widespread tightening of rental markets saw Australia’s residential vacancy rate fall over August.
According to figures from SQM Research, all Australian capital cities saw a fall in their vacancy rates over the month, resulting in the national vacancy rate falling 0.2% to 2.3%.
Across the country, the August falls were relatively uniform, with falls of 0.1% to 0.3% seen across all capital city markets.
The nation’s lowest vacancy rate is in Hobart at 0.3%, having fallen from 0.8% over the month.
Canberra’s rental market is the second tightest behind Hobart’s, with it tightening from 1.3% to 1.1% over August.
Sydney (1.7%), Adelaide (1.9%) and Melbourne (1.9%) are the only other markets with vacancy rates below 2%, while Brisbane’s vacancy rate currently sits at 2.7%.
Despite improving over August, Perth and Darwin are both still home to the nation’s highest vacancy rates.
Perth’s vacancy rate fell 0.2% to 5% over August, while in Darwin the vacancy rate fell 0.1% to 3% over the month.
Those continued elevated vacancy rates in Perth and Darwin are proving to have an impact on rents in the two cities.
The past 12 months have seen asking rents in Perth fall 9.6% for houses and 11.4% for units, while in Darwin asking rents are down 1.5% for houses and 5.5% for units over the year.
Canberra is benefitting from its tight vacancy rates, with asking rents for houses and units up 12.1% and 9.6% respectively over the last year.
Sydney and Melbourne have also seen solid increases in their rents thanks to their tight vacancy rates.
In Sydney, rents are up 4.8% and 4% respectively for houses and units over the past 12 months, while in Melbourne they are up 3.4% and 4.5% respectively over the same period.
Despite having the nation’s lowest vacancy rates, Hobart’s weekly asking rent for a house is up just 3.4% over the past 12 months and down 3.1% for units.
