Darwin’s share house room demand to availability ratio revealed
The number of people on the hunt for a room in Top End suburbs has soared to new highs with only a handful of rooms advertised, new data has revealed. See the demand to availability ratio.
Northern Territory
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Demand for share house spots has surged in Darwin with hundreds of wannabe flatmates competing for the scarce few rooms available.
New figures from Flatmates.com.au showed the number of people searching for a space in May swelled to 232 in Darwin City alone while only seven rooms were advertised in the same time.
In Nightcliff, 92 people were searching for a room while only three places were advertised and in Parap there were 64 on the hunt and just three rooms to pick from.
In Fannie Bay there were 61 searches to four advertised rooms and in Larrakeyah 34 room hunters and one advertised room.
Claudia Conley, Flatmates.com.au community manager, said nationwide May was Flatmates.com.au’s busiest month on record, with 69,400 new members joining the platform.
“This was up 36.6 per cent from a record April and a staggering 103 per cent higher than May 2022,” she said.
“As many look to house sharing amid a tight rental market and growing cost of living, demand has soared, with hundreds of people searching for each available room in some suburbs.
“We’d love to see more homeowners or empty nesters whose spare rooms are just gathering dust look to rent them out and earn some extra money.
“There are other benefits too, such as companionship, safety, you can share chores and split bills.”
Ms Conley said the suburbs with the highest ratio of property seekers to room listings across the country included Sydney with 133 seekers and zero rooms, Cremorne, Victoria, with 120 seekers and zero rooms available and Holland Park, Queensland, with 119 seekers competing for one available room.
According to the latest data from PropTrack, the Darwin rental vacancy rate was 1.5 per cent in May, down 0.15 percentage points from the previous year but up 0.05 percentage points year-on-year.
PropTrack Senior Economist Paul Ryan said Darwin was one of four capital cities which recorded an increase in vacancy rates across the past year.
“Even so, the rental vacancy rate has more than halved (down 69 per cent) on pre-pandemic levels in March 2020,” he said.
Darwin’s flatmate to room ratios
Larrakeyah – 34:1
Darwin City – 232:7
Palmerston City – 31:0
Nightcliff – 92:3
Casuarina – 30:0
Parap – 64:3
Fannie Bay – 61:4
Alawa – 14:0
Cullen Bay – 12:0
Ludmilla – 12:1
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