SQM Research reported:
- All cities record an increase in rental vacancies.
- Third consecutive monthly rise in national rental vacancy rates.
- Rental crisis declared over in Canberra with vacancy rates reaching 2%.
- Rental crisis mostly over in Regional Australia.
SQM Research today has revealed national residential property rental vacancy rates continued to rise to 1.2% in April 2023. This marks the third consecutive monthly rise in rental vacancies. Brisbane recorded an increase in vacancy from 0.9% to 1.0%. Meanwhile, in Brisbane’s CBD, vacancy rates have risen rapidly from 1.3% to 1.7%.
Rental Vacancy Rates
Rents
Over the past 30 days leading to May12, Brisbane’s asking rents have recorded an increase of 0.7% with the 12-month rise standing at 16.7%. Meanwhile, capital city asking rents (house and unit combined) nationwide rose by 0.4% with the 12-month rise standing at 20.7%.
Capital city house rents rose by 0.1% and are recording 12 month increases of 17.7%. Apartment rents have risen by 0.7% for the past 30 days and rose by 24.2%
for the past 12 months.
Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said:
“SQM’s latest data on the rental market, represents some respite for renters across the nation. I believe tenants have been responding to the rental crisis by grouping together more, which can free up some rental stock. And/or an increasing number of tenants have been turning themselves into First Home Buyers. It is likely many Landlords have been overly exuberant in seeking rent increases which have driven renters away.
“What is apparent from today’s data is that the rental crisis is easing in the Nation’s regions as well as some of our smaller capital cities including the Nation’s Capital where we are now confident in calling the rental crisis over.
“Going forward, it is way too early to call the rental crisis over in our larger capital cities. The building slump, combined with extremely strong population growth rates will see to it there will remain an overall shortage of rental properties. We note however weekly rental listings nationwide have increased so far in the month of May by another 3,000 rental listings. So, it is likely we will record another rise in rental vacancy rates across the nation for this current month.”
Property Value
Corelogic reported that after falling -9.1% between May 2022 and February 2023, Australian housing values look to have bottomed out, posting a second consecutive monthly rise. Brisbane home values have posted a subtle rise over the past two months, up 0.3% in April following a 0.1% rise in March.
Persistently low levels of advertised supply is a key factor in supporting housing values. With the flow of new listings holding lower than normal, total advertised inventory was tracking -21.8% below the previous five-year average for this time of the year.
Sources:
SQM Research. (2023). National Vacancy Rate April 2023. Accessed: https://sqmresearch.com.au/uploads/14_05_23_National_Vacancy_Rate_April_2023_Final.pdf
CoreLogic. (2023). Brisbane Housing Market Update | May 2023. YouTube [Online Video]. Accessed: https://youtu.be/LkaqZ10VD0M
CoreLogic. (2023). Home Value Index – Further Evidence Australia’s Housing Downturn is Over. Accessed: https://www.corelogic.com.au/news-research/news/2023/corelogic-home-value-index-further-evidence-australias-housing-downturn-is-over
