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New figures show sliding vacancy rates nationwide, which is welcome news for landlords.
According to the latest figures released by property analysts SQM Research, Australia's national vacancy rate dropped to 2.1 per cent in October — which equated to 62,947 properties.
SQM said it was the second consecutive month vacancy levels have dropped, however, historical data suggests it is most likely a seasonal decrease.
While most capital city vacancy rates have either steadied or recorded minor decreases, the same cannot be said for Perth and Darwin rental markets.
“Both Perth and Darwin are revealing massive surges in vacancies since this time last year,” SQM said.
“This has been the trend in recent months, and is largely attributed to the downturn in the mining boom, to which both these cities are highly sensitive.”
According to SQM, Perth now has 4,567 properties available for rent compared with 2,766 at the same time last year. It found Darwin had 968 compared with 235 this time last year.
SQM managing director Louis Christopher said there continues to be ongoing rental weakness in Perth and Darwin.
“Canberra is now providing signals that perhaps the worst of the rental downturn is over, with a slight fall in vacancies year on year and a rise in asking rents for the month,” he said.
“Sydney appears to be the strongest rental market right now with asking rents – for houses – up by 6.4 per cent for the past 12 months, though I am expecting rental growth to slow in 2015 due to the increased completion of new stock on the market.”
The report found Sydney had 9,109 vacancies, Brisbane 6,792, Adelaide 2,392, Canberra 968, and Hobart 352.
Melbourne topped the cities with the highest number of vacant properties on the market, at 11,692.
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