Rental crisis: Melbourne ‘very close to lowest vacancy rate ever’ — PropTrack
A staggeringly low number of prospective rental homes in Melbourne were available for tenants in July, with the figure all but frozen at one of its lowest ever levels across winter.
Just 1.41 per cent of prospective rental homes in Melbourne were available for tenants in July, with the figure all but frozen at one of its lowest ever levels across winter.
But the city’s rental vacancy rate has suffered the biggest year-on-year fall in the country, plunging 0.82 percentage points.
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It’s now less than half the 3 per cent vacancy rate experts cite as a tight rental market.
The vacancy rate is a major factor in why the city’s typical house has had a $40 (8.7 per cent) increase to its now $500 asking rent in the past year. Units in the state’s capital cost $70 a week more than they did a year ago at $2080 a month, with the figure having jumped an extraordinary 17.1 per cent.
The new statistics from PropTrack also show the city’s supply of available rental homes is almost half what it was just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Australia.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said there was little prospect of improvement for tenants, with the number of homes being added to the rental market declining at the same time as broader housing construction numbers fell and population rose.
“We’re definitely very close to the lowest vacancy rate we have ever seen in Melbourne,” Ms Flaherty.
“And the vacancy rate is likely to remain extremely low for the next 12 months.”
While she noted that regional Victoria’s 1.3 vacancy rate had improved marginally, up 0.17 per cent, in the past year, it was still the second lowest for a regional area in the nation in PropTrack’s latest rental market insights released today.
The increase means a typical house outside Melbourne now costs $445 a week, an extra $25on what it did a year ago, while tenants are paying an extra $20 every seven days for a unit at $350 a week.
Only South Australia was worse off.
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Originally published as Rental crisis: Melbourne ‘very close to lowest vacancy rate ever’ — PropTrack
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