"An imminent increase in supply" needed, expert says
Australia’s rental crisis continues, with the number of available rental properties dropping in April by the largest amount in years.
New rental listings plummeted 18.9% nationally last month, with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth seeing the tightest rental conditions, according to a report from NCA Newswire.
New listings in Sydney tumbled by 17% last month and 5.1% over the past year, while Melbourne listings fell by 20.8% in the last month and 17.9% over the past year, according to PropTrack data.
The two cities are also dealing with low vacancy rates, with Sydney’s at 1.4% last month and Melbourne’s sitting at 1.2%, NCA Newswire reported.
The largest drops in new listings were in Perth and Darwin, which saw listings fall by 22.2% and 25.8%, respectively.
While some markets like Hobart and Canberra saw small increases in rental supply, they weren’t enough to mitigate the tumble in the number of available properties, according to Cameron Kusher, research director at PropTrack.
“There was little relief for hopeful renters in April, with new listings recording the largest monthly decline since 2017,” Kusher told NCA Newswire. “The larger capital cities are seeing supply tighten, creating incredibly difficult conditions. However, pressures are starting to ease in regional areas and smaller capital cities as pandemic-induced trends begin to reverse.”
Kusher said the split between regional areas and capitals was “apparent” with the total number of properties for rent 20.8% higher in regional markets and 16.5% lower in capital cities.
Action needed on supply
Kusher told NCA Newswire that the rental crisis will continue to worsen if nothing is done to address the issue of insufficient rental stock.
“Without an imminent increase in supply, the stock of rental properties will remain low, exacerbating the competitive conditions renters currently face,” he said.
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