Lower income households bear brunt of record low in properties for under $400 per week

The number of rental properties for under $400 per week has fallen to a record low, data from PropTrack shows, dealing a significant blow to lower income households.

The number of rental properties available for under $400 per week has plunged to a record low across the nation, representing the strain lower income earners are under in the current rental crisis.

In PropTrack’s Market Insight Report, the number of properties for rent on realestate.com.au for less than $400 per week fell to a record low of 19.3 per cent of listings in September 2022, down from 41.8 per cent in March 2020.

While the total number of homes available for rent is 31.4 per cent lower since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, the amount of properties available for rent under $400 per week has tightened even further.

PropTrack’s economic research director Cameron Kusher said the rental market is likely to get worse before it gets better, as there’s no significant increase in rental stock coming in. “We basically need more supply, which means we need more investors buying properties. But servicing debt on an additional property at the moment is pretty difficult given how much interest rates have risen,” he said.

PropTrack economic research director Cameron Kusher

“Or we need to be getting more first home buyers into their own home. And, again, you might start to see that soon, but first time buyers can’t borrow as much as they could have six months ago, even though prices have fallen.”

Capital cities declined in their share of properties under $400 per week from 36.1 per cent in March 2020 falling to 16.4 per cent in September 2022.

No capital cities recorded more than a quarter of listings below $400 per week in September 2022.

Over the past year, Melbourne (-20.4 per cent), Adelaide (-19 per cent) and Brisbane (-16.6 per cent) have seen the biggest decline in listings available to rent under $400 per week.

For Hobart, Darwin and Canberra, less than one in 10 rental listings were for homes that cost less than $400 per week, with Adelaide and Melbourne having the highest share among capital cities.

Regional areas have experienced a drop from a 57 per cent share in March 2020, down to 28.2 per cent in September 2022.

Mr Kusher said any significant improvement in the rental market would need the government to step in and make some changes to policy, but we’d still be a couple years away at best for any major reprieve.