Key takeaways
Australia's residential dwelling vacancy rate inclined slightly to 1.3% in February 2025, up from 1.0% in January 2025, according to SQM Research
The total number of rental vacancies rose to 38,427, a rise from 30,161 in the previous month.
Over the past month leading up to 11 March 2025, rental prices across Australia's capital city asking rents displayed a rise, most notably in the regions.
In Sydney, combined rents experienced a small decrease of 0.1% to $844 per week, driven by a 0.4% decrease in house rents.
Melbourne saw a 1.0% increase, with combined rents reaching $646, supported by a 1.7% increase in unit rents.
Brisbane stood out with a 1.0% rise, bringing combined rents to $676, reflecting ongoing demand.
Perth showed slight growth at 0.3% to $753 per week.
Adelaide, however, experienced a more buoyant market, with combined rents rising by 1.6% to $622.
Canberra’s rental market remained stable, with combined rents increasing by 0.2% to $686.
Meanwhile, Darwin saw rental declines of 1.0% to $598, while Hobart had an increase of 1.5% with combined rents increasing to $529 per week.
Nationally, combined rents increased by 1.8% to $648 per week.
However, the capital city average saw a small increase of 0.4% with rents remaining at $737.
Sydney
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $1,049.58 | -2.53 | -0.4% | -0.2% |
| All Units | $704.56 | 0.44 | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Combined | $844.38 | -0.74 | -0.1% | 0.2% |
Source: SQM Research
Melbourne
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $761.44 | 2.56 | 0.3% | 2.9% |
| All Units | $564.85 | 3.15 | 1.7% | 2.7% |
| Combined | $646.37 | 2.98 | 1.0% | 2.9% |
Source: SQM Research
Brisbane
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $747.36 | 1.64 | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| All Units | $589.41 | 0.59 | 0.7% | 3.8% |
| Combined | $676.23 | 1.16 | 1.0% | 4.1% |
Source: SQM Research
Perth
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $835.34 | -1.34 | 0.4% | 7.1% |
| All Units | $638.10 | -1.10 | 0.1% | 11.2% |
| Combined | $753.46 | -1.20 | 0.3% | 8.6% |
Source: SQM Research
Adelaide
| Property Type | Rent $) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $676.23 | 1.77 | 1.4% | 6.0% |
| All Units | $516.13 | 6.87 | 2.0% | 12.0% |
| Combined | $621.72 | 3.55 | 1.6% | 7.8% |
Source: SQM Research
Canberra
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $820.29 | -2.29 | 0.4% | 8.6% |
| All Units | $573.40 | 0.60 | -0.2% | -0.3% |
| Combined | $685.58 | -0.73 | 0.2% | 4.2% |
Source: SQM Research
Darwin
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $729.91 | -1.91 | -0.6% | 1.6% |
| All Units | $507.86 | 2.14 | -1.4% | 3.2% |
| Combined | $598.16 | 0.56 | -1.0% | 2.5% |
Source: SQM Research
Hobart
| Property Type | Rent 9$) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $559.58 | 4.42 | 0.9% | 3.7% |
| All Units | $482.48 | 4.52 | 2.5% | 3.7% |
| Combined | $528.71 | 4.46 | 1.5% | 3.7% |
Source: SQM Research
National
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $720.00 | 1.00 | 1.6% | 4.7% |
| All Units | $566.00 | 3.00 | 2.2% | 5.6% |
| Combined | $648.50 | 1.94 | 1.8% | 5.0% |
Source: SQM Research
Cap City Average
| Property Type | Rent ($) | Weekly change | Monthly change | 12 Months change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Houses | $854.00 | 0.00 | -0.1% | 2.5% |
| All Units | $635.00 | 2.00 | 1.0% | 2.9% |
| Combined | $737.41 | 1.09 | 0.4% | 2.7% |
Source: SQM Research
Vacancy Rates - February 2025
| City | Feb 2024 Vacancies | Feb 2024 Vacancy Rate | Jan 2025 Vacancies | Jan 2025 Vacancy Rate | Feb 2025 Vacancies | Feb 2025 Vacancy Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 8,137 | 1.1% | 10,151 | 1.4% | 11,155 | 1.5% |
| Melbourne | 5,288 | 1.0% | 8,047 | 1.5% | 9,326 | 1.8% |
| Brisbane | 3,213 | 0.9% | 2,877 | 0.8% | 3,445 | 1.0% |
| Perth | 776 | 0.4% | 803 | 0.4% | 1,201 | 0.6% |
| Adelaide | 830 | 0.5% | 754 | 0.5% | 1,070 | 0.7% |
| Canberra | 936 | 1.5% | 779 | 1.3% | 961 | 1.6% |
| Darwin | 395 | 1.5% | 281 | 1.1% | 277 | 1.1% |
| Hobart | 326 | 1.2% | 95 | 0.3% | 174 | 0.6% |
| National | 30,161 | 1.0% | 31,822 | 1.0% | 38,427 | 1.3% |
Source: SQM Research
Australia's residential dwelling vacancy rate inclined slightly to 1.3% in February 2025, up from 1.0% in January 2025.
The total number of rental vacancies rose to 38,427, a rise from 30,161 in the previous month.
Sydney’s rental vacancy rate increased to 1.5%, with 11,155 rental dwellings now vacant, compared to 10,151 in January.
Melbourne also saw an incline, with its vacancy rate rising to 1.8%, representing 9,326 vacant dwellings.
Brisbane recorded an increase to 1.0%, with 3,445 properties now available for rent.
Canberra’s vacancy rate also rose from 1.3% to 1.6%, while Perth and Adelaide inclined slightly at 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively.
Darwin remained stable at 1.1%, while Hobart recorded a vacancy rate increase of 0.6%.
The increase in rental vacancies suggests a slight easing in the rental market from the tightening over January.
Notably, national rental vacancy rates are slightly higher than this time in 2024.
Comment
National rental vacancy rates rose somewhat in February, which was somewhat surprising to us given there was no increase in total rental listings.
That suggests advertised rental properties were taking about 3 to 4 days longer to rent and occupy on average than in January.
But I don’t regard that as a material increase.
I would not be surprised to see vacancy rates fall again in March which typically records the stronger rental demand.
Advertised rents continued to rise over the month for the capital cities, but not at the extreme pace that was recorded from 2021 to 2023.
This suggests there has been an easing in rental growth expectations by landlords but nevertheless advertised rents are still rising faster than the overall inflation rate.
Overall, the data we have released today still suggests the country remains in a rental crisis, driven by a combination of excess population growth and multi-year lows in dwelling completions.
