Fresh blow for renters as Brisbane rental crisis hits new record

Brisbane has hit a new record low vacancy rate after the number of rentals slashed in half, with overall rent prices now surging at four times inflation, rising more than all other capitals.

Brisbane’s rental vacancy rate hit 0.6 per cent in June, latest figures show.

The latest SQM Research Rent Index found rent prices for all dwellings in Brisbane rose 20 per cent in the 12 months to June to $538.60, the highest it has ever been – driven by houses rising 20.2 per cent to $620.50 a week and units up 14.7 per cent to $448 a week.

Brisbane’s price rise blitzed the national rent jump of 16.1 per cent, with its house rents surge almost 5 percentage points higher than the capital city average.

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The number of homes advertised for rent for longer than three weeks fell to just over 2,000 in June, a massive drop from the last high of over 12,000 in December 2016.

The number of properties available to rent across the Brisbane capital region shrunk to just over 2,000 in June, SQM found – half the level it was at the same time last year.

That saw Brisbane’s vacancy rate cut in half, plunging from 1.3 per cent in June last year to 0.6 per cent last month. The figures were taken off properties that are listed for rent online for three weeks or more, indicating many Brisbane rentals were being snapped up at their fastest level in history at two weeks or less.

The result bucked a national trend towards the steadying of the rental crisis, with vacancy rates rising or holding across other major capitals, with Sydney sitting on 1.6 per cent (from 1.5 per cent) and Melbourne holding at 1.7 per cent.

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher.

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said Brisbane was seeing extraordinary levels of demand.

“It’s been an extraordinarily tight rental market. This hasn’t just occurred in the last couple of months, it’s been very tight since late 2020 and we’re seeing a massive rise in rents.”

The last bottom rent average recorded in Brisbane was December 2020, he said, when combined weekly rent was $422 a week.

“That’s a significant rise since that time,” he said, which was being combined with a significantly low number of properties available for rental.

“This is extraordinary for Brisbane, the last high we had was back in December 2016 where there were 12,758 properties vacant. Now we’ve got a fraction of that number.”

He said interstate migration, high underlying demand for accommodation and a reduction in the number of rental properties available long term had combined to deliver the Brisbane result – which is also playing out across SEQ.

Pete Wargent of BuyersBuyers says asking rents are at decade-highs in Brisbane.

Proptech founder of BuyersBuyers.com.au Pete Wargent said the move north from Sydney and Melbourne to SEQ seemed to be continuing despite the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, driven by the availability of more flexible roles with remote working arrangements.

“The total demand for housing in Brisbane clearly remains strong overall,” he said.

“Asking rents are now strong for both units and houses, for the first time in over a decade in Brisbane.”

Rental specialist Haesley Cush of Living Here Cush Partners said earlier this year interstate migration, flood affected residents, and an influx of students had caused a lot of stress on the market, but the market was now seeing a lack of new rental supply due to tenants simply renewing leases they were already in.

Haesley Cush of Living Here Cush Partners says many tenants are simply renewing leases they’re already in which is seeing less properties hit the rental market.

“That’s really causing the market to tighten,” he said. “People who would normally get to the end of their lease and move to another property are renewing their lease. We would be down 60 per cent as a business on vacant properties.”

He said the number of applications coming in above the $700 a week level had also eased off but more affordable rentals were still firing.

“In the lower end of the market sub-$400 a week, it’s still highly competitive. I’m talking as much as 20 to 30 applications on properties sometimes.”

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