The Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) has blamed the government for the rental market tightening across the state.
The February 2013 REINSW Vacancy Rate Survey saw a contraction of 0.3 per cent in the Sydney metropolitan area to 1.9 per cent and, according to REINSW president Christian Payne, this is due to the government’s failure to entice investors into the property market.
“The residential rental market has contracted during February, in line with our expectations,” Mr Christian Payne said.
“The market will continue to tighten due to the lack of supply caused by the government’s failure to provide appropriate incentives to invest in the property market.
“This dire situation will not resolve itself. We need action today from the government to address the inadequate, expensive and complex planning system, and an inequitable property tax regime.
“If not remedied, the crisis will continue to have significant negative impacts on the future prospects of NSW, both economically and socially,” Mr Payne said.
According to the data, the hardest place to find rental accommodation in NSW was the Orana region that includes Dubbo, Cobar and Mudgee.
“The vacancy rate dropped 0.6 per cent to 1.1 per cent, a figure last seen in September 2012,” Mr Payne said.
Meanwhile, Coffs Harbour remained the easiest place to find rental accommodation, despite the rate dropping by 0.4 per cent to 3.9 per cent.
In the Illawarra, Wollongong slipped 0.1 per cent at 2.7 per cent, in line with the overall decline for the region of 0.1 per cent at 2.3 per cent.
The Hunter area retracted 0.3 per cent at 2.3 per cent, even though Newcastle saw an increase of 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
The Riverina jumped 0.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent while, South Eastern NSW fell 0.2 per cent to 3.6 per cent, and Albury dropped 0.4 per cent to 1.6 per cent.