Sydney’s rental market has tightened over August, with the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) reporting a downward shift in available rental properties across inner and outer Sydney.
The number of properties for rent in those areas fell slightly in the month to 1.8 per cent, though the middle suburbs “bucked the trend” with a small rise at 2.1 per cent, according to REINSW president Malcolm Gunning.
Inner Sydney includes suburbs such as Ashfield, Botany Bay, Mosman, North Sydney and Randwick, while outer Sydney suburbs are usually more than 30 kilometres away and include Blacktown and Hornsby.
Middle suburbs fall between the two and include areas like Parramatta, Ryde and Strathfield.
“We hit the bottom of the availability trend in March 2014 with 1.4 per cent and have been tracking upwards for the last five months,” Mr Gunning said.
“This decline could really be considered a slight glitch. Over the next few months it is expected that availability will continue to improve as more properties enter the marketplace as a result of the construction boom in Sydney."
According to the REINSW, in August the hardest place to find rental accommodation in NSW was Albury at 1.7 per cent, up 0.1 per cent on the previous month.
Availability in the Hunter fell 0.5 per cent, at 3.3 per cent, wiping out the gains made in July.
Newcastle slipped from 3.2 per cent availability to 2.7 per cent.
Looking to the Illawarra, total availability was down 0.1 per cent to 2.0 per cent, with Wollongong rising 0.1 per cent at 2.2 per cent.
Vacancy rates in New England slipped 0.7 per cent from 11-year highs, to 3.5 per cent, while the availability in Orana fell 1.0 per cent to 2.1 per cent after considerable gains the previous month.