RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
AFTER a seasonal rise over December, the national vacancy rate has again fallen to its lowest point on record for January at 0.8%.
According to the latest analysis from Domain, the return to vacancy declines indicates Australia’s highly competitive nature, with asking rents also at historic high levels.
Vacant rental listings in January were 36.1% lower than in the same month in 2022 and at all time January low, with increased demand completely absorbing any boost seen over December.
14,763 vacant rentals were available in January across Australia’s combined capitals, for a monthly drop of 24.0% and an annual decline of 47.0%.
Meanwhile the combined regionals saw a 10.2% decline in vacant rentals to 6,176 in January, up 25.1% from the same month in 2022.
At 0.8%, the national vacancy rate reflects falls across all capitals across the country, excluding Hobart, which grew from 0.4% to 0.5%, up again from 0.2% in January 2022.
Canberra reported the highest vacancy rate of the capital cities at 1.5%, just 0.3% off its record high in 2019. With vacant rentals up 90.5% from January 2022.
Darwin followed at 1.3%, where the number of rental listings managed to increase annually, up 29.0%.
While Sydney has returned to its record low of 1.0%, first seen in October 2022, with rental stock down 44% from last January.
Melbourne’s vacancy rate has fallen from 1.4% to a new low of 1.0%, down dramatically from its peak of 5.6% in December 2020 and down 61.1% from the same month in 2022
The remainder all saw 0.1% declines, with Brisbane still high compared to much of 2022 but falling to 0.8% and both Perth and Adelaide falling to 0.3%.
Brisbane’s volume of vacant rentals was down 25.9% compared to the same month in 2022, with Perth’s down 35.3% and Adelaide’s by 12.6%.
With low supply enabling a landlords’ market in all capital cities, landlords are able to continue to increase asking rents, driving up competition between renters.
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