April vacancy rates stable

Rates remained at the record low of 1%
Sydney and Melbourne saw rates decrease
“All capital cities continue to operate in a landlords’ market this month"

The latest Domain data shows April rental vacancy rates were stable. While that may initially sound good, the stability means that the lowest vacancy rates on record have been maintained: 1%.

While the number of vacant rental listings did creep up in Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, and Perth, Adelaide and Canberra continued to be some of the toughest cities to rent in, Adelaide recorded a 0.3% vacancy rate and Canberra recorded a 0.4% vacancy rate.

Sydney and Melbourne vacancy rates decreased, with the harbour city recording a record low of 1.4%.

Monthly vacancy rates

	Apr-22	Mar-22	Apr-21	Monthly change	Annual change
National	1.0%	1.0%	1.9%	–	↓
Sydney	1.4%	1.5%	2.7%	↓	↓
Melbourne	1.7%	1.8%	4.0%	↓	↓
Brisbane	0.7%	0.7%	1.3%	–	↓
Perth	0.6%	0.5%	0.8%	↑	↓
Adelaide	0.3%	0.2%	0.6%	↑	↓
Hobart	0.4%	0.3%	0.5%	↑	↓
Canberra	0.7%	0.5%	0.8%	↑	↓
Darwin	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	–	–

Source: Domain.

SQM Research presented similar numbers to Domain, with the national vacancy rate also around 1%.

Domain Chief of Research and Economics, Dr. Nicola Powell said, “All capital cities continue to operate in a landlords’ market this month, remaining tight and highly competitive for prospective tenants.”

Dr Powell also noted asking rents across the capital cities remained high.

domain-april-2022-vacnacy-rates — Source: Domain.

What’s available?

The report found the highest vacancy rates in Sydney could be found in places about an hour out of town. Not much of a complaint though, with picturesque locations like Pittwater and Ku-ring-gai among the top five.

City areas with the highest vacancy rates

Rank	Sydney	Melbourne	Brisbane & Gold Coast	Perth	Adelaide
1	Pittwater (2.5%)	Stonnington – East (3.3%)	Jimboomba (1.7%)	Cottesloe – Claremont (1.3%)	Adelaide City (1.1%)
2	Ku-ring-gai (2.4%)	Banyule (2.8%)	Brisbane Inner (1.5%)	Perth City (1.1%)	Burnside (0.5%)
3	Rouse Hill – McGraths Hill (2.4%)	Boroondara (2.7%)	Mt Gravatt (1.2%)	Fremantle (1%)	Unley (0.4%)
4	Blacktown – North (2.1%)	Whitehorse – West (2.6%)	Sherwood – Indooroopilly (1.1%)	Mandurah (1%)	Prospect – Walkerville (0.4%)
5	Ryde – Hunters Hill (2%)	Stonnington – West (2.6%)	Brisbane Inner – West (1%)	Melville (0.8%)	Campbelltown (SA) (0.3%)

Source: Domain.

What about rental growth?

SQM Research data put Womboota at the top of the country for the fastest rental growth for houses, with weekly rent at $1,467, changing 192.8% over the past year.

It’s a small town of just over a hundred locals with no listings currently available, res ipsa loquitur.

For Sydney, Scotland Island located in Pittwater, NSW recorded the fastest rental growth at 84%. Next up was Roseville at 81.3%, a suburb a touch closer to Sydney’s CBD, and neighbours Chatswood.

The Melbourne CBD saw the fastest rental growth at 77.5% change for the year, with rents at $646 a week. That was closely followed by East Melbourne at 43.4%

On the other side of the country, Coogee saw rents move up 51% over the course of a year to $832 a week, with inner-city Highgate seeing a 35.9% change.