Key takeaways
Residential dwelling vacancy rates held steady across Australia at 1.2% in October, according to SQM Research.
The total number of rental vacancies now stands at 36,486 residential properties, a slight decrease from 37,932 in September.
Adelaide, Perth, and Hobart were the primary contributors to the drop, while other capital cities remained stable or recorded marginal increases.
Over the past month leading up to November 12, 2024, rental prices across Australia's capital city asking rents displayed varied trends, according to SQM Research's Weekly Rents Index.
In Sydney, combined rents decreased by 0.1% to $836.98, indicating that the rental market remains relatively stable.
Melbourne combined rents fell by 0.2% to $627.09, hinting at a slight softening in rental demand.
Brisbane, however, experienced a sharp decline of 1.1% in combined rents, now at $657.29, indicating a cooling in demand following a period of rapid growth.
Perth, traditionally one of the more resilient markets, demonstrated a 0.8% decline in combined rents, now at $715.26.
This marks a shift, as Perth’s market shows signs of cooling after experiencing growth in previous months.
Adelaide recorded an opposite trend with combined rents increasing by 0.8% to $609.18.
Canberra stood out with a robust increase of 2.3% bringing combined rents to $655.82.
Darwin's witnessed significant and continued growth throughout the month, with rents rising by 4.2% to $602.75, suggesting strong rental demand.
Hobart’s also followed and experienced a small rise of 0.4% to $505.32.
Nationally, the combined rent average across all cities rose by 0.3%.
Sydney
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $1,047.33 | -0.33 | 0.2% | 3.4% |
| All Units | $693.39 | 1.61 | -0.4% | 2.0% |
| Combined | $836.98 | 0.83 | -0.1% | 2.7% |
Source: SQM Research
Melbourne
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $746.71 | 0.29 | 0.7% | 6.4% |
| All Units | $542.75 | -1.75 | -1.1% | 4.2% |
| Combined | $627.09 | -0.90 | -0.2% | 5.3% |
Source: SQM Research
Brisbane
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $722.31 | -2.31 | -1.7% | 2.4% |
| All Units | $577.87 | 0.13 | -0.2% | 5.2% |
| Combined | $657.29 | -1.21 | -1.1% | 3.5% |
Source: SQM Research
Perth
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $784.68 | 0.32 | -1.2% | 6.6% |
| All Units | $617.85 | -1.85 | -0.3% | 11.7% |
| Combined | $715.26 | -0.58 | -0.8% | 8.4% |
Source: SQM Research
Adelaide
| Property Type | Rent $) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $665.28 | 4.72 | 1.3% | 9.9% |
| All Units | $501.10 | -0.10 | -0.7% | 14.4% |
| Combined | $609.18 | 3.07 | 0.8% | 11.3% |
Source: SQM Research
Canberra
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $769.31 | 5.69 | 4.0% | 6.5% |
| All Units | $560.98 | 3.02 | 0.6% | -1.3% |
| Combined | $655.82 | 4.23 | 2.3% | 2.7% |
Source: SQM Research
Darwin
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $719.17 | -1.17 | -2.9% | -2.8% |
| All Units | $523.27 | 3.73 | 12.0% | 14.9% |
| Combined | $602.75 | 1.74 | 4.2% | 5.6% |
Source: SQM Research
Hobart
| Property Type | Rent 9$) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $536.30 | -3.30 | -0.1% | 2.2% |
| All Units | $459.01 | 5.99 | 1.3% | 0.7% |
| Combined | $505.32 | 0.42 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
Source: SQM Research
National
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $704.00 | 3.00 | 0.4% | 5.4% |
| All Units | $554.00 | 6.00 | 0.2% | 6.9% |
| Combined | $634.35 | 4.39 | 0.3% | 6.0% |
Source: SQM Research
Cap City Average
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $837.00 | -4.00 | 0.1% | 4.9% |
| All Units | $619.00 | 0.00 | -0.3% | 3.7% |
| Combined | $720.94 | -1.87 | -0.1% | 4.3% |
Source: SQM Research
Vacancy Rates - October 2024
| City | Oct 2023 Vacancies | Oct 2023 Vacancy Rate | Sep 2024 Vacancies | Sep 2024 Vacancy Rate | Oct 2024 Vacancies | Oct 2024 Vacancy Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 8,368 | 1.2% | 11,360 | 1.6% | 10,874 | 1.5% |
| Melbourne | 6,092 | 1.2% | 8,796 | 1.7% | 9,052 | 1.7% |
| Brisbane | 3,132 | 0.9% | 3,737 | 1.1% | 3,580 | 1.0% |
| Perth | 683 | 0.4% | 1,119 | 0.6% | 998 | 0.5% |
| Adelaide | 722 | 0.4% | 1,002 | 0.6% | 915 | 0.6% |
| Canberra | 1,027 | 1.7% | 1,198 | 2.0% | 1,059 | 1.7% |
| Darwin | 368 | 1.4% | 267 | 1.0% | 349 | 1.4% |
| Hobart | 373 | 1.3% | 215 | 0.8% | 179 | 0.6% |
| National | 30,307 | 1.0% | 37,932 | 1.2% | 36,486 | 1.2% |
Source: SQM Research
Residential dwelling vacancy rates held steady across Australia at 1.2% in October, according to SQM Research.
The total number of rental vacancies now stands at 36,486 residential properties, a slight decrease from 37,932 in September.
Adelaide, Perth, and Hobart were the primary contributors to the drop, while other capital cities remained stable or recorded marginal increases.
Sydney’s rental vacancy rate eased slightly to 1.5%, with 10,874 rental dwellings now vacant.
Melbourne’s vacancy rate held steady at 1.7%, with 9,052 vacant dwellings.
Canberra recorded one of the highest rental vacancy rates among the states and territories at 1.7%, down slightly from September.
Perth’s vacancy rate dropped further to 0.5%, reflecting ongoing strong demand, while Darwin’s vacancy rate rose to 1.4% as the local market traditionally enters into its wet season lull.
Adelaide maintained a low vacancy rate of 0.6%.
While Hobart’s vacancy rate declined to 0.6%.
Vacancy rates in the CBDs recorded subtle shifts, with Sydney’s CBD vacancy rate edging down by 0.3% to 4.7% while Melbourne’s CBD witnessed a slight rise from 5.1% to 5.5%.
Brisbane’s CBD continued to maintain a low vacancy rate of 2.3%.
Comment
National rental vacancy rates fell slightly in October and by less than what was expected by SQM Research.
The market has now reached its seasonal bottom with about 6,500 more rental vacancies than recorded this time, last year.
Looking forward to November and the end of the year, our expectation is that national rental vacancies will rise from these levels as university students complete their semesters.
There is also an overall reduced demand for tenancy in the seasonal lead-up to Christmas.
Advertised rents should ease over this time with the 12-month rental increase for 2024 likely to be in the range of 3% to 4% which will be the slowest rate of rental growth recorded since 2020.
- Also read:Sydney housing market update [video] | November 2024
- Also read:Auction Report Nov 16th 2024 | More Auctions and Higher Clearance Rates This Week
- Also read:Perth housing market update [video] | November 2024
- Also read:Australian housing market update [CoreLogic’s video] | November 2024
- Also read:National Vacancy Rates held steady at 1.2% | SQM Research
