The total number of rental vacancies Australia-wide now stands at 39,616 residential properties, down from 36,868 in March. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane vacancy rates remained stable at 1.6%, 1.9% and 0.7%. In the smaller capital cities, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart, rental conditions eased somewhat with vacancy rates increasing in each respective city; albeit conditions remained tight.

Vacancy rates rose in the Melbourne CBD to 2.9% from 2.4% and rose in the Sydney CBD to 3.5% from 3.4%.

While some regions recorded a slight lift in vacancies, rental conditions remain tight with the average regional rental vacancy rate remaining well below 1%.

Asking rents

Over the past month to 12 May 2022, capital city asking rents rose by another 1.4% with the 12-month rise standing at 13.8%. Capital city house rents are recording 12 month increases of 15.3%, while unit rents have risen by 13.1%.

Louis Christopher, Managing Director of SQM Research said: “Rental conditions slightly improved for tenants over April and our weekly rental listings for May suggest another slight easing. Potentially more property owners are responding to the tight rental market and are looking to lease their properties once again after taking their investment property off the market during the bleakest periods of Covid. So, while it’s way too early to state the worst is over for the national rental market, we may be close to that point. Clearly landlords remain confident as they lifted their asking rents by another 1.4% over the past 30 days.”

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