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The national residential vacancy rate held steady over August, while median asking rents saw varied shifts across the capital cities.
Recent findings from SQM Research have revealed that the national residential vacancy rate remained at 1.3 per cent during the month of August, which marks a 0.1 per cent increase over this time last year.
The total number of rental vacancies across Australia presently stands at 39,665, registering as a slight reduction from the 39,701 vacancies recorded in July 2024, but still above the 35,425 vacancies in August 2023.
Sydney’s vacancy rate reported a 0.1 per cent decrease to 1.6 per cent over August 2024, while the city contained the most vacant properties at 11,893.
Melbourne’s vacancy rate instead increased by 0.1 per cent to the same level as Sydney’s 1.6 per cent and was reportedly home to the second-highest number of vacant dwellings at 8,733.
Over the past year, Australia’s two largest capital cities saw their vacancy rates rise, with Sydney recording a 0.2 per cent increase and Melbourne registering 0.3 per cent year-on-year growth.
Despite Canberra once again recording the highest rental vacancy rate of any state or territory at 2.1 per cent, this result still marks a 0.1 per cent decrease from the 2.2 per cent observed in July 2024.
The data also found that both Brisbane and Darwin’s vacancy rates remained steady week-on-week, at 1.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively.
Perth and Adelaide both recorded decreases of 0.1 per cent over August 2024 to 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively, the latter result representing the lowest vacancy rate of all the capital cities.
Vacancy rates in Sydney’s CBD climbed from 4.6 per cent to 5.1 per cent over the 12 months leading up to August 2024, with Melbourne and Brisbane’s CBDs increasing to 5.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, over the same period.
Notably, Canberra’s CBD recorded a pronounced decrease from 4.0 per cent in August 2023 to 3.5 per cent in August 2024.
Following the slight decline in national rental vacancies over August 2024, SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher predicted “further falls in vacancies through spring” but cautioned not to anticipate a “re-acceleration of rents”, which he noted have eased in the recent months.
The organisation also found that the national median weekly rent for a dwelling is now $719.80, marking a 0.4 per cent decrease from the 30 days prior and a 6.5 per cent drop from this time last year.
Over the 30 days to 12 September 2024, Canberra saw the greatest reduction to combined house and unit rents with a 1.2 per cent decrease, while Hobart’s market fell by 0.6 per cent.
Brisbane and Perth’s combined house and unit rents recorded drops of 0.8 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively, over the same period.
In contrast, Sydney recorded a 0.6 per cent increase in its house rents over last month to $1,031.09 per week.
Notably, Darwin showcased the most significant price growth over the period, particularly within its house rents, which climbed 9.6 per cent over the last month.
Looking ahead, Christopher said the “national rental market remains in severe shortage and barring some exceptions, it is not expected to materially soften out of the rental crisis for some years”.
“However, much of the structural rental shortage has now been priced into the rental market and so, I do believe the days of 10–20 per cent plus annual rental increases have come to an end,” he said.
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