Thousands of vacant homes have been uncovered in SA – and where to find them

As the state grapples with a housing crisis, new data has revealed the SA suburbs and towns with the highest rate of unoccupied properties – and the results are shocking.

South Australia is experiencing a rental crisis, with new rentals being snapped up almost as soon as they hit the market.

But there are still a lot of SA homes that could be used to ease this problem.

According to PropTrack data of suburbs and towns with at least 50 homes, Adelaide city, perhaps unsurprisingly, has the most vacant properties, with 2006 of the 10,257 registered homes – or 20 per cent – currently vacant.

The second most vacant SA location is Mount Gambier, where 10 per cent, or 1156 of its 11690 total private dwellings sit unoccupied.

Ray White Mt Gambier principal Tahlia Gabrielli said more homes in use, rather than sitting vacant, would help those who need it the most.

“More supply allows the price point to change and less competition and would help renters, who are going through a challenging time find housing,” she said.

“I’m surprised there are that many vacant homes here.”

Despite this, Ms Gabrielli said she did not think owners of vacant properties should be forced to rent them out.

“The government needs to get on the front foot and find a better way to accommodate our growing population,” she said.

“People that have properties shouldn’t be penalised for having them and be pressured to rent them out if they don’t want to.”

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The majority of SA’s vacancy hotspots can be found in coastal or tourist locations – likely in the form of holiday rentals – with Encounter Bay, Aldinga Beach, Robe, Port Lincoln and Middleton all having between 723 and 923 homes currently vacant.

In terms of proportion of overall housing stock, Scott Creek, in the Adelaide Hills, is the state’s most vacant, with 44 per cent, or 60 of its 137 private dwellings currently unoccupied.

Port Willunga is the second most empty, with 293 of its 999 homes, or 29 per cent of all properties, currently vacant.

Glenelg and Sellicks Beach weren’t far behind, with 24 per cent and 22 per cent of their homes sitting unoccupied respectively – again, likely due to the high proportion of holiday rentals in these markets.

PropTrack economist Paul Ryan.

PropTrack Senior Economist and report author Paul Ryan said more rental properties were needed desperately to ease the current rental crisis, with Adelaide having the lowest vacancy rate in the nation at 1.03 per cent.

“Available properties remain very scarce with the vacancy rate at around half the levels seen before the pandemic,” he said.

“We expect renters will face continued difficulty securing rentals and strong rent growth over the rest of 2024 in these markets.”

Jordan van den Berg.

Social media identity Jordan van den Berg, also known on Instagram and TikTok as PurplePingers, recently made news when he encouraged struggling Australians to squat in the nation’s unoccupied homes, even going as far as to create a database of vacant properties.

Paul Edwards, Real Estate Institute of South Australia. Supplied.

Real Estate Institute of South Australia legislation and industry adviser Paul Edwards slammed that advice, saying anyone not authorised to be on a property either as a tenant, a boarder or a lodger was trespassing.

“Just because the owner might not know about the people living on their property that still doesn’t given them (squatters) the right to live there,” he told The Advertiser.

“They’re basically breaking and entering.”