Australia is presently grappling with a rental disaster, which consultants warn might worsen within the coming months.

Latest information from PropTrack has discovered a big decline within the availability of rental properties nationwide, with the share of vacant leases declining over the previous three years. From January 2021 to January 2024, the emptiness fee dropped from 2.42% to 1.09%.

SA4s characterize geographical areas with a minimal inhabitants of 100,000 individuals, Flaherty mentioned. A wholesome emptiness fee often hovers round 3%, putting a stability between accessible leases and tenant demand. Nevertheless, in January, solely 2% of SA4 areas have been capable of preserve emptiness charges above this threshold.

The Bunbury area in Western Australia recorded the bottom emptiness fee nationwide in January, with solely 0.45% of rental properties vacant. This marked the seventh consecutive month that Bunbury boasted Australia’s lowest emptiness fee. Following carefully have been Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and Melbourne Outer East, with emptiness charges of 0.58% and 0.6% respectively.

Whereas low emptiness charges persist in each capital cities and regional areas, cities have skilled probably the most vital decline in availability over the previous yr, in accordance with Flaherty.

Higher Perth emerged because the hardest rental market, with a emptiness fee of simply 0.76% in January. Equally, Higher Adelaide and Higher Brisbane reported emptiness charges beneath 1%, at 0.78% and 0.86% respectively.

Regional Queensland recorded the bottom emptiness fee exterior of capital cities at 0.95%, carefully trailed by regional Tasmania at 0.97%.

“The rising prevalence of sub-1% emptiness charges throughout Australia’s capital metropolis and regional areas is extraordinarily regarding and factors to a extreme undersupply of properties relative to tenant demand,” Flaherty mentioned in her evaluation.

In response to Flaherty, there could also be “little aid” within the close to future because the tempo of recent housing growth in Australia slows to its lowest degree in a decade and inhabitants development stays robust.

“This can preserve aggressive circumstances in each the markets to hire and likewise to purchase,” she mentioned. “Consequently, rental availability is prone to deteriorate additional over the yr which can erode affordability. We’re additionally prone to see the common family measurement enhance as extra look to transfer into share homes or keep longer within the household house.”