National residential property rental vacancy rates remained steady as capital city rents continued to increase during June, according to figures released by an investment research house.
SQM Research stated the national vacancy rate was unchanged from May at 1 per cent, while capital city asking rents rose by 1.8 per cent during June.
The vacancy rate was lower than the June 2021 figure of 1.7 per cent and the stability seen in the national rate was also reflected in capital cities, with Melbourne and Sydney having the highest rates at 1.7 per cent (unchanged from May) and 1.6 per cent (down by 0.1 percentage points from May) respectively.
The remaining state capitals all recorded vacancy rates of less than 1 per cent, with only slight variations of 0.1 per cent compared with the May figures, and the total number of rental vacancies Australia-wide was 37,049 residential properties, up from 36,478 in May.
The increase in capital city asking rents continues a 12-month increase totalling 16.1 per cent, with capital city house rents recording 12-month increases of 15.3 per cent and unit rents experiencing a rise of 14.8 per cent.
A peak was noted in the regional national rental market, with the research house saying asking rents fell by 1 per cent for houses at the national level, led by declines in rents for the New South Wales North Coast (down 2.6 per cent), NSW Central Coast (down 1.9 per cent), Launceston (down 1.8 per cent), Bellarine Peninsula (down 1 per cent), Gippsland (down 1.2 per cent) and South-Western Victoria (down 2.6 per cent).
SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said: “The rental market remains significantly in favour of landlords with rental vacancy rates remaining at 1 per cent.
“However, there are now signs of a peak in the rental market in regional Australia with a larger number of regions now recording rising rental vacancy rates and some falls in rents.
“While capital city rents continue to march higher, it’s possible we could be near the peak in the national rental crisis.
“Outside Brisbane, there was no material decrease in rental vacancy rates over June. Indeed, four capital cities recorded a rise in rental vacancy rates.”
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