- Australia’s rental market is continuing to tighten with plans to enter crisis territory
- BuyersBuyers CEO and co-founder Doron Peleg said vacancy rates are considerably lower than a year ago
- SQM’s figures showed rental vacancies of 1.5%
Australia’s rental market is continuing to tighten with plans to enter crisis territory in many regions of Australia, according to BuyersBuyers co-founder Pete Wargent.
“Although international travel has come back to some extent, we expect to see a surge in ‘staycations’ this year, as Aussies fear being shut out on return.
“Travel and flight rules are changing quickly at the moment, and over the coming months, we expect booming rental demand in destinations such as Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, and the northern New South Wales, among others.”
BuyersBuyers CEO and co-founder Doron Peleg said vacancy rates are considerably lower than a year ago, as more Australians have bought second homes, and rental tenancy regulations have shifted incrementally in favour of tenants over landlords.
“SQM’s figures showed rental vacancies of 1.5%, down from 2.1% a year ago, resulting in surging asking rents, especially for detached houses.
Mr Peleg said with international students returning, and migrants and tourists arriving, rental vacancies are expected to fall to record low levels.
“But overall, we expect tight rental markets to persist in 2022 as immigration comes back online, and that’s already reflected in five of the eight capital cities recording vacancy rates of under 1% for the first time.”
Asking rents for houses surged 14.1% nationally over the year, and for units, rents were up 9.1%, according to SQM Research figures for the year to November.
SQM Research data also shows the total amount of rental stock is on the decline too.
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Mr Wargent said, “Everything is already full in many of the lifestyle locations, and that’s only going to intensify over the Christmas period.
“Aussies have built up a huge war chest of savings, an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in cash and deposits. We’ve seen the renovations boom; next comes the staycations boom.”
Many holiday locations are expected to have the ‘zero vacancies’ signs out over the Christmas period, according to SQM Research.
Mr Wargent said, “Regulations and changes to borrowing terms have made it harder and harder for landlords to get properties financed and rented out over the past 4 or 5 years, and now that’s coming home to roost.
“We do think landlord buyers will be more active in 2022, however, as this is the fastest growth we’ve seen in asking rents for about a decade-and-a-half.”
